Tammy Baldwin

Saturday, Tammy Baldwin, the openly lesbian U.S. Representative from Wisconsin, told attendees at the 2009 International Gay & Lesbian Leadership Conference in San Francisco, California that she is holding on to optimistic expectations the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act of 2009 (DPBO), which Baldwin sponsored, will reach the House floor this year. If enacted, the bill would provide benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees. Baldwin also stated she expects The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), a bill that would prohibit workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity will be passed as well.

In regards to Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the military’s ban on service members serving as openly gay, she expects that will reach the house sometime next fall, and feels it will be attached to the military’s 2011 spending bill.

All three pieces of legislation is expected to gain the approval of the House of Representatives, which is considered more liberal than the Senate, but it’s also expected the bills will face tougher obstacles in the Senate, where Democrats hold a small majority.

Baldwin stated at the conference:

“I’m hopeful we will see those three pieces of legislation make it all the way, or damn close.”

The Leadership Conference was sponsored by The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, a group that promotes the election of openly gay men and women into public offices.

Source Text:

www.gayagenda.com

New Jersey

It looks at though same-sex marriage will go up for a vote in the garden state on Thursday, December 10th!

From the NY Times:

A petition in New Jersey signed by more than 2,300 Democratic officials, advocates and residents has helped sway members of the State Senate Judiciary Committee to call for a vote on a bill to legalize same-sex marriage.

But the bill has a long way to go, and recent votes against same-sex marriage in a Maine referendum and in the New York State Senate led opponents of the New Jersey measure to say that the political tide had turned against it.

Still, Senator Raymond J. Lesniak, a Democrat from Union County, said the petition, circulated by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a liberal political advocacy group, produced a strong “momentum change” for the bill after it had appeared to be stalled in recent weeks. Many prominent officials signed the petition, including Mayor Cory A. Booker of Newark; Ronald K. Chen, the state’s public advocate; and J. Frank Vespa-Papaleo, director of the state’s Division on Civil Rights.

Mr. Lesniak is a member of the Judiciary Committee, which plans to vote on the bill on Monday. A large turnout for the vote is expected by those on both sides of the issue; gay couples are planning to testify about what they believe are shortcomings in the state’s civil union law, which was passed in 2006.

Mr. Lesniak predicted that the Judiciary Committee would pass the bill. The full Senate would probably consider the measure on Thursday, and Mr. Lesniak said the vote would be close. The Senate and the Assembly — where the bill is still in committee and no vote has been scheduled — are controlled by Democrats, but some do not support same-sex marriage, so Republican votes would be needed.

The timing is important because the current governor, Jon S. Corzine, a Democrat, supports same-sex marriage, while Christopher J. Christie, a Republican who will assume the office on Jan. 19, opposes it.

Source text:
www.gayagenda.com

Hiram Monserrate, a freshman Democrat

From Air America:

A state senator was sentenced Friday to probation and domestic abuse counseling, the resolution of a yearlong legal drama that began when he took his girlfriend to a hospital with a gaping, bleeding wound under her eye and ended with her begging a judge to let them be together.

State Sen. Hiram Monserrate, a freshman Democrat, could have been sent to jail for up to a year on the misdemeanor assault conviction for unintentionally injuring girlfriend Karla Giraldo by dragging her through his apartment lobby.

But his troubles are not over: A Senate committee is looking into whether he is fit to remain in the Legislature.

Monserrate, in a tearful statement to Justice William Erlbaum, said he took full responsibility for his actions and looked forward to resuming his life with Giraldo.

The rest of the story here!

Oh, but let’s protect the sanctity of marriage, just like the Bible says. And also just like the Bible says, let women continue to be a servant of man, so if he doesn’t like what she does, he can beat the hell out of her…Just like the Bible says!

Source Text:

www.gayagenda.com