Hate Crimes bill passes the House, 249-175

Equality Beach and HRC BackStory have more

3 LGBT Legislative Updates

3 updates to report from around the country:

The Hate Crimes Bill has passed the Judiciary Committee on a 15-12 vote. It now goes to the full House for a vote. Please call your Congress person and ask them support the bill.
More from HRC BackStory

Nevada state Senate passes the Domestic Partner bill.

CT Gov signed the marriage equality bill

Welcoming Schools

Welcoming Schools is a new, comprehensive guide for administrators, educators, parents and guardians who want to strengthen their schools’ approach to family diversity, gender stereotyping and bullying.

D.C. Council Votes to Recognize Other States' Gay Marriages

From the Washington Post via Equality Beach

The D.C. Council voted today to recognize gay marriages performed in other states, on the same day that Vermont became the fourth state to legalize same-sex unions.

Domestic partnerships are already legal in the nation's capital, and gay couples married in other states are recognized as domestic partners when they move to the city. But today's legislation, billed as an important milestone in gay rights, explicitly recognizes them as married couples.

BREAKING: VT State Legislature overrides Gov's veto of Marriage Equality bill

From Equality Beach

This just in, the VT state senate voted 23-5 and the state house voted 100-49 to override Gov. Jim Douglas' veto of the marriage equality bill. The bill and right to marry takes effect Sept 1, 2009. Vermont is now the first state to legalize gay marriage through the legislative process. On the heels of the Iowa state supreme court ruling, this is a huge victory in the fight for marriage equality. More info via HRC

IA Supreme Court rules unanimously

The IA Supreme court ruled unanimously in favor of marriage equality today. This is a huge victory towards the march to equality. HRC will issue a statement later on the ruling

IA Supreme Court to rule on Marriage

BREAKING: Iowa Supreme Court to Rule on Marriage Tomorrow: The Iowa Supreme Court announced today that it will i.. http://tinyurl.com/d38r86

Raiding another senator

Ok, I am not pre judging the governing ability of Obama, but I am wondering why he keeps raiding the Senate and Governors of particularly vulnerable states?  I guess CO does have a Democratic Governor who is decidedly more progressive than the state's junior senator, Ken Salazar, who has been tapped as Sect of the Interior, so maybe in the end Gov. Ritter can appoint someone more progressive like Rep. Diana DeGette or former CU President Elizabeth Hoffman to replace Salazar, but why go after people where there might be difficulty replacing them in 2-4 years?  On this same note, Gov. Napolitano is a great example of this.  She is one of the best governors in the country and is going to be replaced by a right-wing loon who is going to set Arizona back 40 years.  Guns in bars, count on it; ability to shoot undocumented Mexicans crossing the border, probably; say goodbye to any future raises if you are a state employee; and who knows what other ridiculous measures the uber-conservative legislature will pass for Gov. Jan Brewer to gladly sign into law.  Let's just hope that Reps. Kirsten Synema, David Lujan and other progressives both in the state house and their counterparts over in the state senate can keep the state legislature in check somewhat.

Things for that I am Thankful

On this particularly poignant Thanksgiving, I have a few things for which that I am thankful:

1. I am thankful for the bravery and dedication of the various fire firefighters who fought the recent wildfires, and more importantly rescued Adam from our apartment
2. I am thankful for the Yorba Regional Pet Hospital for saving Abe's life and keeping us together for Thanksgiving
3. I am thankful for the many anonymous well wishers and supporters at Daily Kos
4. I am thankful for the more than 150 contributors to Abe and making sure we had the funds to make sure he got better
5. I am particularly thankful for Sandra and Tony for their extremely generous contributions
6. I am thankful for Misha and all her efforts to make sure that we were well taken care of and have everything we need to get by right now
7. I am thankful for my entire HRC family, especially my local family - Tedd, Carin, Thom, Jose, Andy, Sandra, Kevin, Diane, Michael, Chris and anyone else I forgot (sorry), but also my friends in DC - David, Tony, Frank and anyone else I forgot (sorry)
8. I am thankful for Heather for helping us get Abe's story out to the net and all her offers of support
9. I am thankful for the Orange County Animal Shelter for taking care of Adam for a week (even if they did misidentify his sex)
10. Most importantly, I am thankful my friends, family, co-workers, and complete strangers for their love, support, prayers, donations, contributions, and anything else that has helped us through this difficult time

So if you fall into one of those categories above, Thank You!