Governor Jerry Brown backs a bill prohibiting state agencies to work with companies that don't offer transgender employees equal health care coverage.

Federal officials have allocated $41 million to address the processing of 70,000 rape kit backlog all over the US at the urging of Senator Tammy Baldwin.

An Alabama nursing home company agreed to settle an employment discrimination case for an undisclosed amount after firing a woman for being transgender.

The state of Coahulia made history this week as the first in Mexico to pass marriage equality in the legislature. The legislation, which passed Congress in a 19 to 1 vote on Monday, will take effect in one week. The law now defines marriage as, "the free union with full consent of two people, which has as its objective to realize community life where both [people] seek respect, equality and mutual aid, and make in a free, responsible, voluntary and informed way reproductive decisions that fit their life project, including the possibility of procreation or adoption." In the U.S., 19 states plus the District of Columbia, currently recognize the rights of loving, committed same-sex couples to marry.   (Courtesy of HRC.org)  

NAIROBI, Kenya — A Ugandan court struck down a punitive anti-gay law on Friday that has strained Uganda’s relations with the West, but the court ruled on narrow technical grounds, preserving the possibility that the measure could be revived. In front of an overflowing courtroom in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, a panel of five judges announced that the Anti-Homosexuality Act, which punishes some homosexual behavior with life in prison, was invalid because it had been passed by Parliament without a proper quorum. “We’re very happy,” said Sylvia Tamale, a Ugandan law professor who has supported gay rights despite persistent [caption id="attachment_2048" align="alignright" width="300"] Gay rights activists celebrated on Friday in Kampala, Uganda, after a five-judge panel announced that a punitive anti-gay law was invalid. Credit Isaac Kasamani/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images[/caption] threats and harassment. “But it’s unfortunate that the court did not deal with the substantive issues that violate our rights.” Uganda’s government, which is tightly controlled by President Yoweri Museveni, a former guerrilla fighter who

“[I]nertia and apprehension are not legitimate bases for denying same-sex couples due process and equal protection of the laws.” WASHINGTON — The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals held Monday that Virginia’s ban on same-sex couples’ marriages is unconstitutional. On a 2-1 vote, the appeals court joined the wave of court decisions declaring such bans unconstitutional. The decision, by Judge Henry Floyd acknowledged both the debate over such laws and, in the court’s view, the clear constitutional impediment to laws banning same-sex couples from marrying. “We recognize that same-sex marriage makes some people deeply uncomfortable,” he wrote. “However, inertia and apprehension are not legitimate bases for denying same-sex couples due process and equal protection of the laws.” In considering the matter, Floyd, joined by Judge Roger Gregory, ruled, “The Virginia Marriage Laws … impede the right to marry by preventing same-sex couples from marrying and nullifying the legal import of their out-of-state marriages. Strict scrutiny therefore applies in this case.” Judge Paul Niemeyer dissented from the

WASHINGTON – Earlier today, the Justice Department released a report detailing the Obama administration’s broad implementation of the Supreme Court’s United States v. Windsor decision, which struck down key components of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) last year.  Under the leadership of President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder, the breadth with which this administration has implemented the Windsor decision constitutes the single largest conferral of rights to LGBT people in history. “President Obama’s advocacy on behalf of LGBT people is nothing less than historic,” said Human Rights Campaign (HRC) president Chad Griffin.  “We are incredibly grateful to both the president and Attorney General Eric Holder for keeping their promise of fighting to wipe out anti-LGBT discrimination at the federal level.  There is no question that the lives of LGBT people today are immeasurably better today than they were before this president took office. “The administration's sweeping interpretation and implementation of the Windsor decision has led to greatest conferral of equal rights, benefits and obligations to LGBT people in our nation's history. In record time, Attorney General

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama has directed his staff to draft an executive order that would ban workplace discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees of federal contractors, a White House official told The Huffington Post. The move is the clearest indication to date that the administration is prepared to take action on LGBT rights where Congress has fallen short. Notably, the official would not say whether the president will sign the order into law on Monday -- suggesting the White House is leaking the news to warn lawmakers that they have a limited window to pass more sweeping workplace discrimination legislation before he acts without them. "The president’s intentions are clear," the official said, when asked whether Obama would sign the order. "We will keep you posted." Obama’s plan to draft an executive order comes after years of inaction on this front. The administration has been calling on Congress to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would make it illegal for

“For the United States to hold true to our commitment to defending the human rights of all people around the world, we must stand with the LGBT community in their struggle for recognition and equality everywhere.” [caption id="attachment_1892" align="aligncenter" width="625"] Gary Cameron / Reuters[/caption] A special envoy for LGBT rights would be created under legislation to be unveiled later today by Massachusetts Democratic Senator Ed Markey. The bill, titled “The International Human Rights Defense Act,” was formally introduced in the Senate on Thursday along with more than 20 co-sponsors, all Democrats. “For the United States to hold true to our commitment to defending the human rights of all people around the world, we must stand with the LGBT community in their struggle for recognition and equality everywhere,” Markey said in a statement to BuzzFeed. “By fostering a coordinated effort across the federal government and relevant agencies, we can meet the enormous challenge before us and work to ensure equality for all people around the

[caption id="attachment_1776" align="aligncenter" width="625"] Governor Tom Corbett salutes as a Boy Scout raises the American flag while the National Anthem is played on Monday, May 26, 2014. Nabil K. Mark/Centre Daily Times / MCT[/caption] NEW YORK CITY — While Republicans aren’t likely to join the fight for marriage equality en masse, the past week has shown that a growing core of the party is done fighting. Since Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett announced last Thursday that he would not be appealing a ruling striking down his state’s ban on same-sex couples’ marriages, two key Republican voices have signaled that Corbett is right and the fight is over. The next day, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker — one of the Republicans often discussed as a potential 2016 presidential nominee — essentially ceded the issue to federal judges. “Any federal judge has got to look at that law not only with respect to the state’s constitution but what it means in terms of the U.S. Constitution, as well. Again, I’m

Today, loving, committed same-sex couples all across Illinois are able to legally wed. Several county clerks will offer special hours today for couples to obtain their marriage licenses. Governor Pat Quinn signed marriage equality into law in November, making Illinois at the time the seventeenth state to provide for same-sex couples to marry. The marriage equality landscape is rapidly changing as federal courts continue to rule in favor of the rights of same-sex couples. Currently, marriage equality is the law of the land in 19 states and Washington, DC. (Courtesy of HRC.org)  

Today Arizona Governor Jan Brewer vetoed a recently-passed bill that would have allowed businesses to refuse services to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community on the basis of religious freedom.  This morning, HRC delivered 65,000 petition signatures to Gov. Brewer calling on her to veto the bill.  The so-called Religious Freedom Restoration Act could have been used to protect businesses that discriminate not only against the LGBT community but also unmarried women or veterans, among other groups. “With today’s veto, Governor Brewer spared her state from institutional discrimination and economic catastrophe. Make no mistake, there is no better way to doom jobs in a state than by signing license-to-discriminate bills,” said HRC President Chad Griffin.  “The bipartisan outpouring of opposition to this bill is all the proof you need that this country isn't turning backwards. Governor Brewer did the right thing in stopping this assault on businesses and the LGBT community and we call on her and the legislature--and

A federal judge declared Virginia's same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional, the state's attorney general announced late Thursday. The decision was immediately stayed, pending an expected appeal. U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen said the marriage ban violated the rights guaranteed under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, but the stay meant same-sex couples in the commonwealth would not be able to wed. "Gay and lesbian individuals share the same capacity as heterosexual individuals to form, preserve and celebrate loving, intimate and lasting relationships," Wright Allen, a President Obama appointee, said in the ruling. "Such relationships are created through the exercise of sacred, personal choices—choices, like the choices made by every other citizen, that must be free from unwarranted government interference." The decision makes Virginia the first state in the South to have its voter-approved ban overturned and came a day after a judge in Kentucky ruled that the state must recognize out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples. Last month, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring informed

(CNN) - Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed a decree banning foreign same-sex couples -- as well as singles from countries where same-sex marriages are legal -- from adopting Russian children. Though there was no official ban until now, foreigners' attempts to adopt Russian children before the decree generally would be unsuccessful if a prospective adoptive parent was thought to be gay, international adoption agencies based in Russia have said. Same-sex marriage is illegal in Russia. The decree was signed Monday and published on a government website Thursday. The decree went into effect Wednesday, state-funded television network Russia Today reported, but CNN couldn't immediately confirm that. The portion affecting singles appears to stem from concerns Russian lawmakers have publicly expressed that single prospective adoptive parents could turn out to be gay and enter a same-sex marriage in their home countries. The ban would appear to affect citizens in the more than a dozen countries that allow same-sex marriage. The move comes about a