As part of CNN.com's "Freshman Year" series, Colorado Representative (District 2) Jared Polis has published an opinion piece on CNN.com.

Polis spends about half the article clearly explaining why he believes it's time to repeal DOMA, and elaborating upon his sposorship of the Respect for Marriage Act, which would replace DOMA and respect states' rights to vote on civil marriage equality. From the article:

"he Respect for Marriage Act will provide couples with much-needed certainty that their lawful marriages will be honored under federal law and that they will have the same access to federal responsibilities and rights as all other married couples.

The Respect for Marriage Act would not tell any state who can marry or how married couples must be treated for purposes of state law, and would not obligate any person, church, city or state to celebrate or license a marriage of two people of the same sex.

It would merely restore the approach historically taken by states of determining, under principles of comity and full faith and credit, whether to honor a couple's marriage for purposes of state law. Churches should be able to decide what kinds of unions are sanctified by their denomination, but not what kinds of unions are accepted in the civil arena. As an example, the Catholic Church will not remarry a divorced person (without an "annulment"), but divorced men and women are allowed to remarry under civil law.

No one should be denied the opportunity to choose his or her spouse. It is a basic human right and deeply personal decision. Throughout history, we have only moved forward when society has distinguished between traditional values and valueless traditions."

You can read the Respect for Marriage Act on Scribd, or find a layman's description at the Advocate.


Image from CNN.com.

In the early hours of this morning, Sen. Edward (Ted) Kennedy (D-MA) lost his battle with brain cancer. He was 77 years old.



One of the Senate's most senior members, Kennedy has long been a champion of progressive causes - including those close to the community. He was a co-sponsor of an inclusive ENDA, and a staunch and vocal opponent of DADT.

The AP has a nice photo montage of the senator's life:


Although the senator's political and personal career was far from flawless - his image never entirely recovered from the Chappaquiddick incident - he was undoubtedly an influential leader in the ongoing effort towards equality for all Americans. President Obama asserted the same in a brief and somber press conference this morning, as reported at USA Today.

Although the senator's health has been declining and it was public knowledge that he was nearing the end of his life, the announcement of his death has sent waves through the blogosphere, the news media, (even FOX News), and the world >. Sen. Kennedy's death marks the end of his legendary generation of Kennedy men, all of whom have died while serving their country in politics. CNN has a thorough and straight-forward assessment and reflection upon the senator's life and the tragedy which seems to constantly befall the Kennedy family.

And, as Jane Lyn Stahl at the Huffington Post writes, there is no time for mourning. We must carry on Sen. Kennedy's work, activism and legacy. There is no better way to honor such a great man.

Yesterday, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which forbids on a Federal level discrimination in employment based on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or disability, was introduced in the U.S. Senate.

Although various other versions of ENDA have been introduced in Congress, yesterday's was the first time the bill included explicit protections for transgender persons, in addition to lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. Back in 2007, an ENDA excluding transgender protection was introduced in the House but died in the Senate.

According to the Advocate's prediction, this new, inclusive ENDA could be effective by the end of the year.

In case you were wondering why the country needs these protections, check out HRC's map of non-discrimination laws across the country. Yeah. Just a few holes.

Wondering how your Senators might vote? The Inclusive ENDA Facebook Campaign has a GoogleDocs spreadsheet tracking the bill's progress. If your Senators are unconfirmed, contact them now and ask them to support this important piece of legislation and step towards equality!

The Twittersphere is buzzing with news about the Department of Defense bill that includes the Matthew Shepard Act, which would increase protection at the Federal level for those who are the victims of bias-motivated violence because of their gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. Although the Senate voted last Thursday to approve the Hate Crimes Bill (also known as the Matthew Shepard Act), the bill could still face a veto from President Obama.

Although the President has pledged his support of the Matthew Shepard Act itself, the act is attached to part of a Federal Defense Department spending bill. That bill WILL eventually be passed, but there are several amendments that could hold up the process and even earn the bill a veto.

The DoD Bill includes allocated spending for a program buying additional F-22 fighters for the military - a program Obama has promised he would veto if the bill arrived on his desk containing that provision. But today, the Senate voted down the F-22 provision, effectively removing it from the bill and bringing the entire bill one step closer to the President's desk.

But Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) yesterday managed to add several amendments to the Matthew Shepard Act that could tear apart strong networks of supporters. Perhaps most despicable was the provision calling for the death penalty for the perpetrators of hate crimes. Sen. Sessions is against the Act, and clearly added these amendments (which passed via a voice vote) in hopes of tearing apart the bipartisan coalition of support for the Matthew Shepard Act. As blogger Law Dork noted yesterday, this is an affront to the memory of the Act's namesake, whose parents spared their son's killer the death penalty when he was found guilty in 1999.

A Bilerico Report post today broke down the hurdles the Act still needs to overcome before it can be signed into law.

The Act isn't out of the woods yet, but we are starting to see some light through the trees. We will keep you updated on this important piece of legislation as it moves through Washington.

LGBT Americans and allies are calling on President Obama to make good on his promise to support our equality by repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and the Defense of Marriage Act. Many of us are feeling jilted by the man who preached for "Hope" and "Change" when we've seen a lack of both in terms of our rights.

But it seems Obama hasn't entirely abandoned his advocacy of LGBT equality. In a speech Thursday at the 100th anniversary dinner for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Obama made a point of including LGBT citizens in his list of those whose rights are still unfairly denied.



"On the 45th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, discrimination cannot stand. Not on account of color, or gender, how you worship or who you love. Prejudice has no place in the United States of America."

Ready when you are, Mr. President.

Meghan McCain - yes, the former presidential candidate's daughter - contends that she really is a Republican, even if it seems like her beliefs don't quite line up with notoriously anti-gay political party. In a feature article in OUT magazine, McCain says "I think I’m a lot like my dad...We’re the same person.”

But what has set McCain apart from her father - whose reputation as a moderate Republican maverick seemed to get lost in the gears of the Republican Machine during the 2008 election - is her outspoken, no-apologies advocacy for LGBT rights.

At the Log Cabin Republican's annual conference earlier this year, McCain said that old-school republicans were "scared shitless" of the future and the potential for a more open, inclusive Republican party.



McCain's youthful, moderate energy, combined with her Republican status, has drawn substantial fascination from both sides of the aisle. But does her open advocacy for LGBT rights (including marriage equality), coupled with her youth, activism and seeming lack of regard for the old Republican guard - and its blowhard figureheads like Rush Limbaugh - mean she's on the wrong side of that aisle?

Posted commentary on OUT.com's article ranges from the supportive fellow moderate and young Republicans to scornful cries of "traitor" from those alleging that McCain shouldn't bother calling herself a Republican. Some posters decry her help in the fight for LGBT equality, arguing that as long as she supports the Republican party, she can't be an honest and valuable supporter of LGBT equality.

Poster "Jason" writes: "...[McCain,] you're basically supporting a party of narrow minded, religious fanatics and trying to get them to think like liberals. If you really want to do something that would send them a wake up call... you'd tell them goodbye."

Similarly, poster "Scott" points out that as long as McCain "... will continue to support the party that victimizes us at every chance ..." he won't believe her sincerity.

Admittedly, McCain was conveniently silent about LGBT rights on her father's campaign trail. (She contends it was because no one ever asked her about them.) But are we, as a community, truly in a position to throw stones? Many of us voted to put Obama in the White House because we believed his promise of "Hope" included us. Now we've found ourselves with an administration unwilling to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell or the Defense of Marriage Act, telling us these things aren't top-priority items.

If that's what we are to expect from Democrats, perhaps McCain has the right idea in looking to her Republican counterparts for support. McCain has made a name for herself advocating for our rights and identifying herself as the future of the Republican party. Certainly, there is a long and tumultuous history between our queer community and the Republican party. But if, as McCain suggests, the up-and-coming and young Republicans across the nation share her beliefs in a Republican party that actually believes in and practices fiscal responsibility, smaller government and personal privacy, there's no reason those beliefs exclude queer Americans. In fact, it's quite possible that such a party might be mutually beneficial for everyone involved.

Of course, we'd have to see that happen, first.



See? Meghan McCain loves The Gays. She posted this photo of her "with Rob and Josh" on her blog at the Log Cabin Republican's convention in April.

In an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper over the weekend, President Obama said he wants to see the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" rule barring GLBT people from openly serving in the armed forces "changed sooner rather than later."

But this fell short of the outright endorsement to repeal or stop enforcing the Clinton-era legislation. "I want to make sure we are not simply ignoring a Congressional law," Obama said. Advocates for repealing the law have recently launched increased efforts to call on Obama to make good on his campaign promise that he would repeal DADT.

The Huffington Post noted that the President's choice of the word "changed" rather than "repealed" might be "terminology likely to anger the gay rights community."

Obama maintains, however, that he does want to see GLBT Americans able to serve openly in the country's armed forces. "Look, the bottom line is, I want to see [DADT] changed."

Watch the CNN interview below:

OFC's Street Team will be out tonight to promote The Rights 5, www.therights5.com. We'll be at Mo's (5:30pm), Broadway's (6:00pm) and Barker Lounge (6:30pm).

If you don't know what your rights as a GLBT citizen of Colorado are then there are five very important ones you should know about.

Learn about The Enlightener, Enda Jobkeeping; The Clarifier, Nick Nondiscriminator; The Protector, Humberto Hate-Eraser; The Inspirer, Two-Pops Shakur, and The Unifier, Desi B. Coupler.

Know your own superpowers!

Massachusetts and Attorney General Martha Coakley file a federal challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”), which denies thousands of married same-sex couples in Massachusetts access to over 1,000 federal protections, benefits and obligations.

The lawsuit, which names the United States and the Secretaries and Departments of Veterans affairs and Health and Human Services as defendants, marks the first time that a state has challenged the federal government’s discriminatory treatment of its LGBT citizens.

For more from HRC, click here.

HRC in partnership with Servicemembers United, the nation's largest organization of gay and lesbian troops and veterans and their straight allies, and U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA), announced today the launch of “Voices of Honor: A Generation Under ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’” The national tour highlights the discriminatory law that hurts military readiness and national security while putting American soldiers fighting overseas at risk. To learn more online, visit: www.hrc.org/VoicesOfHonor.

“This tour focuses on the voices and stories of the qualified, patriotic gay and lesbian service members who are forced out of the U.S. Armed Services simply because of who they are,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “Poll after poll continues to show the vast majority of Americans, including the majority of active members of the Armed Services, support the right of gay and lesbian service members to serve openly and honestly. We must repeal this discriminatory policy and ensure that our military can recruit and retain the best and the brightest troops regardless of their sexual orientation.”