And in other news...

To round out the super-big gay news day, here are some bits you may have missed on the interweb this afternoon:

• Illinois' civil union bill has died, left floundered and unvoted on as the session ended. It passed the House fairly easily, but the Senate let it sit along with a lot of other bills, including cigarette taxes, medical marijuana, and a helmet law. It can come back next session, however, as they have two sessions to bring it up again.
  
• Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler is seeking a legal opinion about whether that state can acknowledge same-sex marriages performed elsewhere, despite laws defining marriage as between one man and one woman. Former Assistant AG Robert Zarnoch wrote an opinion that it would not be allowed under current law, but stated the issue was far from settled.
  
• Maine's voter drive to repeal the same-sex marriage law there is taking shape. Rev. Bob Emrich has said that 5,000 petitions are being circulated to collect the requisite 55,000 signatures to put a referendum on the ballot to overturn a legislative action.
• After the House in New Hampshire came to a compromise on the seemingly never-ending process that is their marriage equality bill, Gov. Lynch has said that he supports the new language and will vote for it. A vote is expected this week; we may have another state by Friday.
  
• On June 3rd, the Uniting American Families Act, which would allow individuals to sponsor their same-sex partners from a different country for citizenship, is holding its first hearing this Wednesday. The House bill (HB 1024) currently has 102 cosponsors; the Senate bill (S. 424) has 17.
• IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: The Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act (H. 2517) was introduced into the House by Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) to give certain benefits to the partners of federal employees on May 20. There are currently 64 co-sponsors, and it has been referred to three different committees for consideration.

And, finally and most important locally, the Equal Housing and Employment Act will hold its second hearing in the Government Committee of the Ohio legislature. Slated to speak: Lynne Bowman (Equality Ohio), Michael Payton (Ohio Civil Rights Commission), Bishop Ough (of the United Methodist Church), Mayor Warren Copeland (Springfield, OH), Jimmie Beall, Jim McCarthy (Miami Valley Fair Housing Coalition), and Ron Templin (on behalf of Cardinal Health, which will be the first time the Cardinal has ever made a political testimony on anything). Testimonies will be up at Do What's Right, Ohio by Thursday morning.

National Gay News Roundup

With all the stuff that's been happening lately, I feel like I've been lax in my news duties. Between Smitherman, rallies/marches, gay marriage, etc. etc. etc... well, everything else got drowned out. I wanted to at least give y'all some links to news stories that have popped up on the web just over the last day to give you a taste of what's going on in the world:

• Out magazine put out its top 50 out media celebrities, and include two non-out individuals -- Barry Diller and Matt Drudge. Drudge is the one who is actively denying it. Ironically enough, Anderson Cooper is saying nothing. Did he come out and I missed it? Many strange and interesting choices on that list, btw. Worth a look.
• 19-year old Spenser Vogt was killed after he went to hook up with a man he met on a chat room. Lee Carl Banks eventually confessed to the murder and told the authories where the body was found. Seriously, guys, this is becoming a problem.
• Rhode Island -- marked as one of the next possible states to pass equal marriage -- will have a loud new anti-marriage voice... its governor who will be coming out against a media campaign targeted equality swing states.
• Maryland's DP law may be expanding to allow exemptions for inheritance taxation.
• Texas Christian University is offering a dorm that focuses exclusively on LGBT and supportive individuals -- entitled "DiversCity Q." Colleges offer dorm environments where individuals can live with people with similar interests. I don't know about you, but a gay dorm would be a lot of problems for me.
• Former UK PM Tony Blair is urging the Catholic Church to rethink their attitudes towards LGBT individuals. Seriously. I like the language he uses.
• Rick Warren -- who apparently did not support Prop 8? what? -- says that stopping gay marriage is not a priority. Instead, he would like to focus on other issues, including genocide and poverty. Didn't I say this a long time ago when the Rick Warren controversy came up during the inauguration? Meh. Old sour grapes. :-)
• Other states, post-Iowa, DC, and Vermont, are starting to assess their own chances at passing equal marriage laws, or defeating current anti laws. Don't believe me? The New York Times thinks so. How long before Ohio, I wonder?
• Columbia, Missouri has passed a domestic partner registry with some actual teeth in it, but not a lot. YEA!

And that's all I got for you this morning. Kisses!

Maryland's Gender Identity Protection Bill

I always liked the flag of Maryland, didn't you?
Via Maryland Wire:

A Maryland Senate panel is scheduled to hear testimony on a measure that would prohibit discrimination against transgender people.

The bill is sponsored by Montgomery County Senator Richard Madaleno Jr. and would protect transgender residents from discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations. Testimony will be heard on Wednesday.

Thirteen states, Washington, D.C., Baltimore and 90 other local jurisdictions including Montgomery County, have banned discrimination against transgender people, according to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

Here's the bill itself.

Hard to believe Cincinnati is ahead of Maryland, isn't it?

Meanwhile, a woman was killed and two more were injured just outside of DC while leaving a lesbian bar called Coconuts Cafe. One step forward, one step back.

Michael Steele Elected RNC Chairperson

Not to make this about race or anything, but they kinda had to, didn't they?

Ewww. That sounded awful coming out.

Regardless, congratulations Chairperson Steele (former Lt. Gov. of Maryland)!!!! Actually, this is a great choice. He's a rising star in the GOP and may actually have the know-how to remake the party. And from Maryland ... a more blue state ... I haven't done much research, but I don't think he's rampantly anti-gay. (Oh damn, damn, damn)

Sigh, it is to dream.