President Obama, in his State of the Union address, noted the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and called on college campuses that had banned military recruiters and ROTC because of the policy to allow them to return. Some LGBT advocates are saying colleges should not do so until servicemembers are protected against gender identity discrimination as well.- President Obama named LGBT-rights activist (and lesbian mom!) Roberta Achtenberg to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission. He also nominated openly gay attorney J. Paul Oetken to the federal bench, and former National Gay and Lesbian Task Force head Jeffrey Levi to the Department of Health and Human Services Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health.
- Politico interviewed—not out Colorado Rep. Jared Polis—but his partner Marlon Reis, the district’s “first lad.”
- The Hawaii Senate passed a civil unions bill.
- An attempt by Republican legislators in Iowa to initiate a constitutional amendment against marriage for same-sex couples has failed in the state Senate on procedural grounds.
- Legislators in Maryland introduced a marriage equality bill.
- The Michigan Civil Service Commission voted to offer health care benefits to the domestic partners of state employees.
- The Wyoming House passed a bill that would prevent the state from recognizing marriages or civil unions of same-sex couples from other states.
Around the world:
- France’s Constitutional Court said the country’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples is constitutional. Same-sex couples may enter a PACS (pacte civil de solidarité), similar to a civil union in the U.S.
- Ugandan LGBT advocate David Kato Kisulle was murdered Wednesday at his home in Kampala. His photo was among those that had appeared on the cover of the Ugandan tabloid Rolling Stone (no relation to the U.S. publication), under the headline “Uganda’s Top Homos” and tagged “Hang Them!” Both U.S. President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton released statements condemning the murder.
- Meanwhile, Ugandan lesbian Brenda Namigadde faces deportation today from the U.K., although she claims she will be tortured or killed if she returns to her home country.