civil rights

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Hawaii Guv Vetoes Same-Sex Civil Unions

GOP Lingle: I'm opposed to gay marriage

(Newser) - Ending months of tense speculation, Hawaii's governor yesterday vetoed a bill to allow same-sex civil unions. Republican Linda Lingle made her decision on the last day she had to consider the bill, which the Hawaiian legislature passed in April. State legislators don't have the votes to override her veto. "...

Republicans Bash Thurgood Marshall
Republicans Bash Thurgood Marshall

Republicans Bash Thurgood Marshall

Elena Kagan is suspect for link to notorious 'activist judge'

(Newser) - Republicans played the guilt-by-association game at Elena Kagan’s confirmation hearing yesterday, slamming the Supreme Court nominee for her ties to… Thurgood Marshall? The revered justice’s name came up 35 times during the first day of the hearing, compared to just 14 for President Obama, the Huffington Post reports,...

Iceland Legalizes Gay Marriage
 Iceland Legalizes Gay Marriage 

Iceland Legalizes Gay Marriage

Parliament unanimously approves redefinition of marriage

(Newser) - With little fanfare, Iceland's parliament unanimously passed a resolution legalizing gay marriage today, Reuters reports . The Althingi voted 49-0 to add mention of unions between "man and man" and "woman and woman" to the legal definition of marriage. Iceland's tolerance for homosexuality is well known—PM Johanna Sigurdardottir...

Ron Paul: Back Off My Boy!

Criticism over civil rights hedge 'unfair overkill'

(Newser) - The uproar following newly minted politician Rand Paul's hedge on civil rights and his comment that businesses should be allowed to ban blacks has been deemed "unfair" by his furious pop. The attacks are "contrived because he has done so well," said Ron Paul. "I think...

Rand Paul Bombs on Maddow Show

Kentucky candidate dodges question in disastrous interview

(Newser) - Rand Paul doesn't believe the government should tell businesses they can't discriminate against black people. That's essentially the takeaway from the newly-minted GOP Senate nominee's painful interview with Rachel Maddow last night, in which he spent 20 minutes trying to dodge questions about his stance on the Civil Rights Act,...

Civil Rights Pioneer Dorothy Height Dead
 Civil Rights Pioneer 
 Dorothy Height Dead 
Obituary

Civil Rights Pioneer Dorothy Height Dead

Obama calls her the 'godmother' of movement

(Newser) - Civil rights luminary Dorothy Height has died of natural causes at age 98, says a spokesperson for the National Council of Negro Women, a group that Height headed for 40 years. Though never a media darling, Height was active in civil rights causes since the 1930s, lobbying everyone from Eleanor...

Hospital Rights for Gays a Good 'Small Step'
 Hospital Rights for Gays 
 a Good 'Small Step' 
opinion roundup

Hospital Rights for Gays a Good 'Small Step'

That it's a big deal shows how much must be done

(Newser) - President Obama's decision to give gay partners visitation rights in hospitals and medical power of attorney is generally being hailed in a let's-not-get-carried-away way:
  • David Dayen, Firedog Lake : "Hospital visitation is important, and this is a compassionate order. But it’s a small step in the grand scheme of
...

How We're Failing MLK
 How We're Failing MLK 
opinion

How We're Failing MLK

We've let him down on poverty and war

(Newser) - Forty-two years after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., the nation has let him down on two important fronts:
  • Poverty: "All these decades later, little has changed when it comes to economic equality," write Bill Moyers and Michael Winship in Salon . "If anything, the recent economic
...

Trailblazing SC Lawmaker Freezes to Death Alone

Juanita Goggins, 75, was first black woman in SC legislature

(Newser) - When Juanita Goggins became the first black woman elected to the South Carolina Legislature in 1974, she was hailed as a trailblazer. Three decades later, she froze to death at age 75, a solitary figure living in a rented house four miles from the gleaming Statehouse dome. Goggins, whose achievements...

75% of Americans Oppose Don't Ask, Don't Tell
 75% of Americans Oppose 
 Don't Ask, Don't Tell 
Poll Numbers

75% of Americans Oppose Don't Ask, Don't Tell

The country has changed a lot since 1993

(Newser) - The American public overwhelmingly supports allowing gay people to serve openly in the military, which wasn’t the case when “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was introduced in 1993. In a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, three out of four respondents supported allowing openly gay service members. That’...

Police Shut Down 'Mr. Gay China' Pageant

Police say organizers didn't apply 'according to procedures'

(Newser) - Chinese police shut down the “Mr. Gay China” pageant an hour before it was set to start, saying the organizers didn’t apply for permissions “according to the procedures.” The event was seen as a symbol of China’s newfound acceptance of homosexuality, which was illegal in...

First Gay Couples Marry in NH

New year brings new law for same-sex unions

(Newser) - The New Year brought a new law to New Hampshire, where midnight ceremonies took advantage of the fact that gay marriage is now legal in the state. As 2010 dawned, a bill signed last June became law, and the Granite State joined Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, and Vermont in recognizing same-sex...

Percy Sutton, Malcolm X Lawyer, Dies

Civil rights activist was also savior of the Apollo Theater

(Newser) - Percy Sutton, the pioneering civil rights attorney who represented Malcolm X before launching successful careers as a political power broker and media mogul, has died at age 89. A spokeswoman for Gov. David Paterson confirmed Sutton died yesterday, but didn't know the cause. His daughter, Cheryl Sutton, declined comment. The...

Straight Woman Offers Her Right to Marry on eBay
Straight Woman Offers Her Right to Marry on eBay
SOLIDARITY DEPT

Straight Woman Offers Her Right to Marry on eBay

She can't actually do that, but the bids are real, and going to charity

(Newser) - A straight woman is auctioning off her right to marry on eBay in response to the New York state senate's rejection of a gay marriage bill. Alas, Jamie Frevele can’t actually auction off the right guaranteed her by way of her heterosexual birth, The Frisky notes. But the money...

NY Senator Diane Savino Wins Over Internet

 NY Senator 
 Diane Savino 
 Wins Over 
 Internet  
gay marriage debate

NY Senator Diane Savino Wins Over Internet

She may be on gay marriage's losing side, but she's a viral video sensation

(Newser) - The New York state senate voted down gay marriage yesterday, but the debate created a big winner on the losing side: viral video darling Diane Savino, who's taking the blogosphere by storm. "Savino for President 2016!" Lindsay Robertson writes for Jezebel . In just over 7 minutes, the Staten...

King's Daughter to Head SCLC
 King's Daughter to Head SCLC 

King's Daughter to Head SCLC

Bernice King to be first woman to head group

(Newser) - Bernice King was elected to lead the Southern Christian Leadership Conference today, becoming the first woman to helm the civil rights organization her father, Martin Luther King Jr., co-founded. King wasn’t there for the board vote, which she won 23-15 over an Arkansas judge, so interim president Byron Clay...

Calif. Will Honor Harvey Milk

'Day of significance' commemorates gay rights pioneer

(Newser) - Reversing his position on a bill he vetoed a year ago, Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed off on bill making May 22 an annual day of recognition in  honor of gay rights pioneer Harvey Milk. The San Francisco supervisor, who was assassinated in 1978, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom...

Reporter: Obama Dismissed Gay Marchers as 'Fringe'

White House takes comedians more seriously, Harwood says

(Newser) - Barack Obama isn’t exactly quaking in his boots over the gay rights protesters that marched on Washington yesterday. The administration views the advocates as “part of the Internet left fringe,” CNBC correspondent John Harwood said on NBC last night. “One adviser told me, ‘those bloggers...

Gay Rights Rally Draws Tens of Thousands to DC

Energized by Obama's vow on 'don't ask, don't tell,' activists demand equality

(Newser) - Thousands of gay and lesbian activists marched from the White House to the Capitol today, demanding that President Obama keep his promises to end "don't ask, don't tell" and work to end discrimination against gays. Rainbow flags and homemade signs abounded as participants chanted "Hey, Obama, let mama...

Garrido: Cops Trampling Dugard's Civil Rights

Kidnap victim denied free speech, access to attorney, suspect writes to local TV reporter

(Newser) - Phillip Garrido says the woman he’s accused of abducting as a child and holding captive for 18 years is being denied civil rights as part of the ongoing investigation, he writes in a letter to Sacramento’s KRCA-TV. Jaycee Dugard’s “free speach [sic] rights are being violated,...

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