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About To Make History Again
David Wilson and Rob Compton were plaintiffs in the Goodridge case that ended marriage discrimination against same-sex couples in Massachusetts. In anticipation of the May 6 hearing in GLAD’s DOMA challenge, we asked David to reflect on the experience of watching Mary Bonauto argue in court.
Tax Day and the LGBT Party
There has been much argument about taxes lately. Yesterday, the Tea Party Express brought some of this talk to the Boston Common, just outside my office window.
I believe that paying taxes is a responsibility that comes with being an American citizen. We must share the costs of maintaining and improving our country’s infrastructure and security, and of providing the services that benefit all of us. But I also believe that the tax system must be administered fairly, and without discrimination.
So, as another tax day rolls around, I find myself reflecting on the particular relationship the LGBT community has to paying taxes.
Challenging DOMA - One Year In
A year ago, we stood in a ballroom at the Parker House in Boston, a band of LGBT lawyers, same-sex married couples, and widowers, milling around the microphones, ready to go. We were there to announce our filing of Gill v. Office of Personnel Management, the first serious legal challenge in the country to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
The Day of the O’Donnabhain Decision
At just past 3:30 on the day of the O’Donnabhain decision, Tuesday, February 2nd, we heard yelling coming from the legal wing of GLAD’s office. “We won! We won!” Though everyone had been waiting for this decision for 2 ½ years, the news was at first too general, too random. We won? Who is we? And what was won?
On the Team: Working for a Sports Culture of Inclusion for LGBT Athletes
The reality of my early sports career in junior high and high school placed me as both a valued athlete and an object of anti-gay jokes and slurs. At that age, I had yet to embrace “gay” as my identity, yet my lack of machismo fueled doubt about my heterosexuality. Severe harassment, taunts, and a general climate of anti-gay attitudes hindered any possibility of coming out, and I would selectively participate only on teams I perceived as less hostile. Unable to seek recourse from my coaches or teammates, I continued to struggle both on and off the playing field, failing to answer my athletic potential.
2010 Census - It’s Personal and Political
It’s not just Uncle Sam - GLAD wants you to take part in the 2010 census!
This is an historic opportunity to show who we are as families. For the first time, the census will count married same-sex couples, in addition to counting same-sex couples living in the same household.
DOMA Damages Same-Sex Families and Their Children
(Excerpted from the ABA Family Advocate)
As Justice Ginsburg famously noted in 1996, the history of our constitution is the history of extending constitutional protections to those who were once ignored or excluded from American society. [United States v. Virginia, 518 U.S. 515 (1996)]. That journey to citizenship is well under way for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Americans as well.
Tis the Budget Season So Let’s Get Busy
HIV service providers, people living with HIV, legislators, and community members filled the Grand Staircase at the State House on Thursday, January 28th to rally support for the funding of critical HIV/AIDS health services and prevention and education programs. The state budget proposed by Governor Patrick on January 27th for the 2011 fiscal year maintained the $35.4 million funding for HIV/AIDS programs, but as State Representatives Carl Sciortino and Gloria Fox (who emplored “Tis the budget season, so let’s get busy!”) State Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz reminded us, 2010 is one of the toughest budget seasons our community and the state have faced, and this is no time for complacency.
A Vermont Mother’s Heartbreaking Search Continues
My heart goes out to Vermont mother Janet Jenkins, who remains in the dark as to the whereabouts of her daughter Isabella.
Lisa Miller, Isabella’s other mother, disappeared with the child before January 1, the date she was ordered by the Rutland Family Court to transfer custody to Janet.
Someone Stood Up
Sitting in the packed committee room, listening to the animated testimony from both sides of the effort to repeal the New Hampshire marriage equality law passed last June, I found myself experiencing a range of emotions. While the ignorance expressed was infuriating at times, it was inspiring to hear from the many gay couples who demonstrated immense courage by speaking publicly about their lives, in front of their legislators and neighbors. They reminded everyone that they live normal lives as couples and families; feeding the dogs and cats in the morning, making the coffee, getting the kids ready for school, and paying taxes. After the passage of the marriage equality bill, they felt that their relationships were truly validated, and finally given the “same pride, recognition and legal status” as those of straight couples.