The federal government does not recognize marriage between same-sex couples. DOMA, which is the Defense of Marriage Act, defines a legally recognized marriage as between a man and a woman. However, lawyers representing same-sex couples legally married in Massachusetts argued in Boston last week that DOMA violates the equal protection guarantees of the US Constitution. DOMA also prevents [...]

  The Williams Institute has released a report stating that permitting gay marriage in Illinois could raise between $39 and $72 million dollars for Illinois over a 3 year period. In addition, The Institute projects that Illinois could generate another $8 million in sales and lodging tax revenues realized from legalizing same-sex marriage. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel [...]

  Alfonso Garcia married Brian Willingham in the State ofNew York last year. Alfonso is not in the US legally and Brian is a US citizen. The couple is trying to prevent Alfonso’s deportation on the basis of discrimination, arguing that a straight married couple would likely receive a postponement or suspension of deportation proceedings. The [...]

The state Senate in Utah has approved a bill providing that schools would no longer be required to teach sex ed in grades 8 through 12.  Individual school districts would be permitted to choose whether to teach an abstinence-only curriculum. It has also been reported that the bill would prohibit teachers from discussing homosexuality. Utah is not alone, however. Last [...]