Marriage Equality / LGBT Rights Updates 5/19/13 (Various) Bisbee civil unions move ahead; Minneapolis church uses rainbow bread for communion; former US Justice offers predictions; Finland marriage equality song doesn’t win Eurovision. purpleunions.com/blog/2013/05/marriage-equality-lgbt-rights-updates-51913.html Venezuela: Gay Activists Push for Marriage Equality (France 24) A group of LGBT activists held a rally in Venezuela Saturday for marriage [...]

Today Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton signed a bill that brings marriage equality for same-sex couples to the U.S. State of Minnesota. Couples can start marrying in the state on August 01, 2013, when the Bill goes into  effect. The signing followed the Minnesota Senate vote of 37 to 30 to approve marriage equality. Their vote [...]

On the path to marriage equality By Melanie Nathan, May 09, 2013. Today the Minnesota House Legislature voted in favor of same-sex marriages, forging the path toward being the first in the Midwest to pass such a law through the legislature, as Iowa came into law via the Courts. The 75-59 vote was seen as [...]

 Just days after the recent victory in Rhode Island, GAY U.S.A. the Movie joins a myriad of organizations in congratulating Delaware on the passage of HB 75. The Delaware Senate voted 12-9, to approve marriage equality legislation (HB 75), guaranteeing that Delaware will become the 11th state that recognizes same-sex couples’ marriages. The law will [...]

Rhode Island became the 10th U.S. state to embrace marriage equality, following a procedural vote in the House of Representatives and independent governor Lincoln Chafee’s signature on the Marriage Equality Act today. It is  the last state in New England to establish marriage equality and the 10th state in the nation, in addition to Washington, [...]

SB 10 Marriage equality in Illinois On February 14, the Illinois State Senate voted to pass the legalization of marriage equality (IL SB10) bill, entitled the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act, by a 34-21-2-2 score in favor of marriage equality.  The Illinois House of Representatives needs to vote on the Bill and if it [...]

The School Success and Opportunity Act (AB 1266), authored by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano, has passed the Assembly Education Committee by a vote of 5-2. The bill, which is co-sponsored by Equality California, Transgender Law Center, ACLU of California, GSA Network and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, addresses the exclusion of transgender students from classes [...]

Last week, a Senate committee voted to advance a resolution that would overturn Nevada’s anti-marriage amendment and replace it with the freedom to marry. The measure now moves to the full Senate, where it must receive a vote in the coming days in order to begin the multi-year process of winning marriage for all loving [...]

We need your help – a message from Kate Kendell at NCLR, an urgent call to cction: Please join the National Center for Lesbian Rights and other co-sponsors of the bill—Equality California, Transgender Law Center, GSA Network, and Gender Spectrum—to make a difference in the lives of young members of our community. It only takes [...]

A dangerous bill racing through the Florida legislature would overturn several of Florida’s strongest local LGBT rights policies and would block future policies statewide. SB 726 by Senator Simmons is a way to eliminate requirements on what kind of benefits businesses must offer their employees. The bill has already passed the House of Representatives and [...]