GLBTQA Issues in the News!

Vermont legalizes Gay Marriage!
On Tuesday, April 7th, the state legislature of Vermont officially legalized Gay Marriage. "The Senate voted 23-5 to override Gov. Jim Douglas' veto" (CNN). The action makes Vermont the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriages. The others are Massachusetts, Connecticut and, as of last week, Iowa. This is the first time that such a measure has been passed in legislature, rather than by court ruling (NYTimes.com).
The week before, the state of Iowa struck down its 1998 law which limited the definition of a marriage to the union of a heterosexual couple. The court declared the ruling unconstitutional.
"On the same day that Vermont's House and Senate voted to override the Governor's veto of the bill legalizing same-sex marriage in the state, the Washington, D.C. City Council voted 12-0 Tuesday in favor of allowing same-sex marriages performed in other states to be recognized in the nation's capital" (CNN). Because Washington, D.C. is not an official state, it must be ratified by the council and by congress.

GLBTQA books disappear from Amazon's listings
Last weekend, hundreds of GLBTQA themed books disappeared from Amazon's list of sales rankings. Publically, Amazon has blamed a computer glitch, but it seems that the fault lies not with the company, but with a hacker, named Weev, who used Amazon's Adult Content blocker to hide the books from view. Books with GLBTQA themes and authors had their sales rankings stripped, which can hide them from view in a search, and can hurt the books' sales, because potential buyers often look at sales rankings to make their decisions. Titles like "Heather Has Two Mommies" by Leslea Newman, "Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit" by Jeanette Winters and others all disappeared, but seem to have been restored. Look out for more information later about GLBTQA books in future posts!
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid78891.asp

Tennessee Schools Censor Gay Websites
More than 100 Tennessee schools have firewalled the sites of prominant gay rights organizations like the Human Rights Campaign, GLSEN, PFLAG and others. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has demanded that the school districts amend their firewall policies before April 29th, or they will face lawsuits. Access to the content is protected under the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech, religion, and press, as well as Tennessee law.

California Natives allowed to change sex on birth certificates
A new ruling passed by the California state legislature allows all those born in California to change the sex written on their birth certificates. This goes to benefit those transgendered people who are no longer comfortable or no longer identify with the sex written on their birth certificates. The ruling was passed based on the case of Gigi Marie Somers, 67, who was born in California but now resides in Kansas. She has lived as a woman for a decade and underwent sexual reassignment surgery in 2005. She tried to change her birth certificate in Kansas, but was not able to, so she tried the case in California. "We discern no compelling state interest in treating California-born transgender individuals who reside out of state differently from California-born transgender individuals who reside in California when either class seeks issuance of a new California birth certificate," wrote presiding judge James Marchiano.