Blog Posts for Massachusetts
From the Atlantic: Challenges to DOMA Have Only Begun
Wendy Kaminer blogs at the Atlantic about GLAD’s DOMA challenge:
Boston Pride 2009
What a beautiful day for Boston Pride 2009! We had a great group of marchers: staff, board, current and former plaintiffs, supporters and volunteers, and several first-time marchers.
All Kinds of Families: Maine’s Marriage Equality Hearing
You really had it all inside the Augusta Civic Center yesterday. On our side, Catholic church ladies opposing the bishop; couples together for 30, 40, 50 years; crusty Mainers supporting their gay children; Republicans, veterans, couples with kids. But for me, a highlight was the testimony of Steve Wessler, head of Maine’s Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence.
Transgender Rights Legislation Impacts All Of Us
Massachusetts’ Transgender Civil Rights Lobby Day demonstrated that our community is organized and deeply committed to securing legal protections for transgender and gender non-conforming people in Massachusetts. On Tuesday, the marble of the State House echoed with our stories about why we need to pass “An Act Relative to Gender-Based Discrimination and Hate Crimes” this year (read more about this legislation and how to get involved).
The transgender rights movement and the work to pass this legislation are deeply personal to me. I have a sibling who is transgender, and I have watched first-hand the hostility and discrimination that he has faced because of his non-conforming gender identity.
Feeling - and Fighting - Federal Discrimination Here at GLAD
Every year, I sign up for GLAD’s Flexible Spending Account, which allows me to put aside some pre-tax dollars to pay for medical expenses – mine and my family’s – that aren’t covered by health insurance. My husband’s eyeglasses, co-pays, prescriptions and all-important Tums – it adds up. I really appreciate the benefit. But every time I sign up, I feel a little queasy, because right next to my office sits my colleague, attorney Nima Eshghi. Nima doesn’t even sign up for the FSA to use for her spouse, Kate. That’s because FSAs are federally regulated, and the federal government doesn’t recognize Nima’s marriage – as it does mine.
Working the State House to Prevent Further Budget Cuts
“You bought it. You own it. You work it!” Representative Gloria Fox exclaimed, referring to our tax dollars that support the Massachusetts State House - and legislators’ salaries - at the podium in the House’s main hall on a recent January morning. Her chant marked the beginning of AIDS Lobby Day, and reminded all of us of our right as constituents to walk the halls, find our legislator, tell our story, share information, and to not leave until our legislators explained what they would commit to doing to prevent further cuts in the budgets that support programs focused on treatment and prevention of HIV and AIDS.
Pioneering Social Work Dean Took on Anti-Gay Foster Care Policy
Diana Waldfogel was the dean of Simmons School of Social Work and President of the Massachusetts chapter of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) in the 1980’s. When the Dukakis administration put into place a discriminatory anti-gay foster care policy, NASW Executive Director Carol Brill took on both Health and Human Services Secretary Phil Johnston - who likes to describe himself as a social worker - and Governor Dukakis - whom NASW and the social work community had helped to get into office through our work at the community level.