By Lisa Keen
'I MIGHT HAVE THREE VOTES': Here's how much support there is in the Louisiana House for barring discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity: "I might have three votes," State Rep. Karen St. Germain told the Baton Rouge Advocate. Germain announced Tuesday she was withdrawing her bill to seek such protections.
MICHAUD SLIPS IN POLLS: Openly gay U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud had a small lead over incumbent Republican Governor Paul LePage at the top of April, but now, he appears to have fallen behind. The first poll, by a more liberal polling group, showed Michaud's bid to unseat LePage supported by 44 percent of voters surveyed, compared to 37 percent for LePage, and 14 percent for independent candidate Eliot Cutler. But by mid-April, a survey conducted by a Portland-based firm found LePage at 38.6 percent to Michaud's 37.2 percent, and Cutler at 20.3 percent.
TEXAS 'CANNOT DISCRIMINATE': A state district court judge in San Antonio, Texas, ruled Tuesday that because the state grants a presumption of parenthood to the husband of a child's birth mother, it must do the same for the same-sex spouse of a child's birth mother. The ruling came in ALFL v. KLL, a divorce and custody proceeding involving a lesbian couple who married in Washington, D.C., in 2010, gave birth to a child using donor insemination in 2013, and is now seeking to divorce in their home state of Texas which bans recognition of same-sex marriages. Echoing U.S. v. Windsor and a recent federal court decision in San Antonio, as well as the "best interests of the child," Judge Barbara Nellermoe wrote that the state "cannot discriminate against same-sex couples" and that the state's ban against allowing same-sex couples to marry violates the child's right to equal protection of the law. Two similar cases are currently awaiting a ruling from the state supreme court.
NAMED TO PRESIDENT'S COUNCIL: President Obama on Thursday named openly gay pro basketball player Jason Collins to the President's Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition. Collins entered the NBA in 2001 and played for a number of professional teams before coming out as gay last year. He currently plays for the Brooklyn Nets. The White House press release notes Collins is "a partner with the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN), a national education organization focused on ensuring safe schools for all students."
A FINAL BATTLEGROUND: A state cemetery for military veterans in Idaho recently refused a lesbian veteran's request that her same-sex spouse, who died two years ago, be buried with her when she dies. Madelynn Taylor, 74, said she knows the two could be buried together in a federal cemetery for veterans but that she has close, long-held ties to Idaho, according to KTVB-TV. A spokesman for the Idaho Division of Veterans Services told the station their hands are tied by the Idaho ban on recognizing same-sex marriages.
THIRTY-TWO PERCENT PROBLEM: The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday that, while 72 percent of all civilian workers get employer-sponsored health benefits for themselves and their spouses, only 32 percent of employees with same-sex domestic partners get benefits for their partners. The report was based on data collected a year ago.
CHENEY BACK IN ACTION: Lesbian political strategist Mary Cheney is one of several Washington Republican operatives launching a new firm this week. The outfit, according to politico.com, will be called [Voice of the People] Vox Populi Polling (aka Pop Polling, according to the new firm's website.)
