Tag Archives: Massachusetts

Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade: Opponents of a newly enacted Massachusetts law that prohibits anti-trans discrimination in public accommodations have obtained enough signatures to place the measure on the ballot in 2018, Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin certified Tuesday. Brian McNaff, a Galvin spokesperson, affirmed for the Washington Blade Wednesday opponents of the law submitted 34,231 …

The case is important because the couple had never married. The Associated Press reports: The Massachusetts court that paved the way for same-sex marriage in the United States ruled Tuesday that an unmarried gay woman whose former girlfriend gave birth to two children through artificial insemination has the same parental rights as their biological mother. The Supreme Judicial Court, of …

He’s been saying this for weeks. Via Politico: Hillary Clinton is “evil,” Gary Johnson is always “high” and it’s game on against Sen. Elizabeth Warren, according to former baseball star Curt Schilling. The six-time all-star Major League pitcher told Fox News’ Neil Cavuto Friday that he’s “serious” about mounting a 2018 challenge to unseat Warren in Massachusetts, while deriding Johnson …

Wicked Local Action reports: State Sen. Jamie Eldridge, D-Acton, said Republican challenger Ted Busiek of Littleton should apologize and consider dropping out of the race after a remark Busiek made on Twitter July 2. Referring to a short video clip of Donald Trump parrying with Congress about federal tribal gaming policy, long before Trump’s successful bid for the Republican presidential …

From GLAD: “This is an incredible moment. After years of brave and steadfast work by transgender people, family members, allies, businesses, faith leaders, and community organizations, we are inches from full equality for transgender people in our state. This bill will not only ensure fair and long overdue protections for transgender people, but enshrine in law a recognition of the …

The Massachusetts House is currently hearing debate on the transgender rights bill that passed in the state Senate last month. Watch live here. As noted in the post below this one, GOP Gov. Charlie Baker has promised to sign the bill should it reach his desk.

From the Boston Globe: After months of taking heat for ambiguity on a deeply controversial issue, Governor Charlie Baker said Tuesday he would sign a transgender public accommodations bill should it reach his desk. His declaration marked the beginning of the end of a bitter, years-long legislative battle over the rights of transgender people in Massachusetts. “We’ve certainly listened to …

Minutes ago the Massachusetts Senate overwhelmingly approved a transgender rights bill. The vote was 33-4. More from Reuters: The bill, which would make Massachusetts the 18th U.S. state to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity, has strong support in the Democratic-controlled legislature, although Republican Governor Charlie Baker has not said whether he would sign it. State Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz, the …

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh today flew the trans pride flag over city hall after a transgender rights bill advanced in the state legislature. MassLive reports: Massachusetts lawmakers are advancing legislation they say will provide anti-discrimination protections to transgender people in public places. The state Legislature’s Judiciary Committee on Friday afternoon approved two bills allowing transgender people to use the public …

The Boston Globe reports: Governor Charlie Baker’s speech to LGBT executives and activists Wednesday night was met with a cascade of boos after he refused to voice support for a bill to prevent bias against transgender people in public spaces. Baker’s reluctance to take a stand on the bill prompted many in the crowd at the Marriott hotel to boo …

With a razor-thin 51-49 margin at this writing, Hillary Clinton has been declared the winner of the Massachusetts primary, her seventh and final win tonight. Bernie Sanders finished Super Tuesday with four wins: Vermont, Colorado, Minnesota, and Oklahoma. The final delegates count for today won’t be known until all races are fully counted.

Mediaite reports: During a campaign rally Wednesday night, Donald Trump‘s supporters once again decided to get aggressive with a couple of people who were not there to support the mogul. What was their egregious transgression? Sitting down, making no noise, and holding a pair of signs in their laps with messages contrary to the plutocrat’s narrative. Video from the incident …

ABC News reports: An all-girls Catholic prep school in Massachusetts violated state anti-discrimination law by rescinding a job offer to a man in a same-sex marriage, a judge ruled. Matthew Barrett was offered a job as Fontbonne Academy’s food services director in 2013, but the offer was withdrawn days later after he listed his husband as his emergency contact. Barrett …

A Massachusetts woman has won the right to wear her Holy Headgear in her driver’s license photo. The Boston Globe reports: Lindsay Miller claims the spaghetti strainer is a sign of her devotion to the “Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.” Miller was originally denied by the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles the right to wear the colander, her lawyer …

The Canadian statistics site 10 And 3 has examined same-sex marriage rates in several nations, comparing the number of weddings that took place two years after legalization in each country. Their analysis suggests that same-sex marriages happen at a lower rate in strongly religious nations. They write: We dug into the numbers, and discovered that in some nations, like Belgium, same-sex …

Via the Boston Herald: Jimmy Moccia and Shawn MacIver will make a small but significant piece of local history tomorrow. They will become the first openly gay couple to graduate from the Boston Police Academy. Both men scored 100 on their civil service tests. They have been together for five years, and yesterday, in a steady rain, they completed the …

Last month the Center For Constitutional Rights surprised us with the revelation that Ugandan Pastor Martin “Eat Da Poo Poo” Ssempa is a US citizen and is therefore subject to a subpoena in their civil lawsuit against Scott Lively, who stands accused of crimes against humanity. The Ssempa subpoena has now been issued along with a $1900 check to cover …

Important history from GLAD: “On April 28, 2015, Mary Bonauto will argue before the U.S. Supreme Court for the freedom to marry for all same-sex couples nationwide. In 2001 Mary and Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) filed the case that first brought marriage equality to the U.S. – with the landmark 2003 Goodridge v. Department of Public Health …

The New England Journal of Medicine is the nation’s oldest continuously published peer-reviewed medical journal. Posted today: Eleven years ago, Massachusetts became the first state in the country to give same-sex marriages full legal recognition. Today, same-sex marriage is legal, through legislative or judicial action or by popular vote, in more than 35 states and the District of Columbia. It …

The Center For Constitutional Rights writes today with the surprising news that notorious anti-gay Ugandan Pastor Martin “Eat Da Poo Poo” Ssempa is actually a US citizen and is therefore subject to their subpoena which demands he appear at Scott Lively’s trial for crimes against humanity. From the motion filed in Massachusetts by CCR’s client, Sexual Minorities Uganda: Mr. Ssempa …