I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
The LGBTQ Resource Center at the University of New Mexico is hosting a community forum on anti-gay bullying in the Student Union Building (SUB) Wednesday at 4 p.m.
The event comes in the wake of several high-profile suicides by gay…
A federal judge in California issued a blanket injunction Tuesday ordering the U.S. military to stop enforcing its 17-year-old “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, the Associated Press is reporting.
U.S. Judge Virginia Phillips issued the injunction after a two-week…
Actor and Albuquerque native Neil Patrick Harris is one of several celebrities who this week recorded a video message encouraging gay youth to “be proud” and not let anti-gay bullies push them to suicide.
The video was inspired by…
A majority of Americans support gay marriage, shows an Associated Press poll released this week. According to the poll, 52 percent of Americans said yes when asked: “Should the federal government give legal recognition to marriages between couples of…
In 2009, the Knights of Columbus donated $1.4 million to the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), a nonprofit group dedicated to fighting same-sex marriage through the ballot initiative system in California, Maine and other states. That’s nearly half of the total charitable contributions to the anti-gay-marriage group, and it’s more than the Knights spent on some of its own programs, including food banks or education initiatives.
An obscure branch of the federal government responsible for distributing millions of tax dollars to religious organizations is drawing criticism for poor oversight of how the money is spent. Good-government advocates warn that without rigorous transparency, the likelihood for corruption, ethics violations and unconstitutional spending of tax dollars is high.
Asked whether gays and lesbians should have a constitutional right to marriage, 52 percent of Americans say yes, according to a CNN poll released today.
It was the first national poll to show majority support for gay marriage, according…
In the past changing gender has been difficult on a New Mexico driver’s license. But it just got easier.
Last month the New Mexico Motor Vehicles Division established a new form to help facilitate changing a person’s gender designation on a drivers license, prompting cheers from the state’s growing transgender community.
A federal judge has ruled that gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to marry in California, the Los Angeles Times is reporting.
U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker struck down Proposition 8 today in a ruling that…
Democrat Lt. Gov. Diane Denish supports domestic partnerships. Republican Susana Martinez doesn’t. The distinction is important to those who follow the annual debate over whether to give same-sex couples many, if not all the same rights, as married couples under state law. Both supporters and opponents of the issue are watching the gubernatorial race: supporters hoping for a governor who will sign domestic partnerships legislation; opponents hoping for a governor who will be the last defense against legislation they dislike.
The Obama administration could be setting up same-sex marriage advocates for disappointment as it weighs an appeal of a recent decision that ruled unconstitutional parts of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. Both options for the administration come with risks: Challenging the ruling would be perceived as a major snub by the gay community, whereas standing behind it would give Republicans a powerful political weapon to use against Democrats in the November elections.
The Daily Caller posts a good round up on the California gay marriage Prop 8 trial, concluded last week and awaiting a verdict from Judge Vaughn Walker. Two random interesting notes. In arguing against the state’s ban on gay…
As closing arguments ended Wednesday in the trial on the constitutionality of Proposition 8, California’s voter-approved ban of same-sex marriage, the judge in the case wanted to know why defenders of the initiative put up only one witness during the…
Two candidates endorsed by The Victory Fund, an organization that trains and funds gay and lesbian candidates, won their races this week. Judge Linda Vanzi won her Democratic primary for a seat on the Court of Appeals;…
New Mexico Attorney General Gary King has written a brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a lower court’s decision in favor of Fred Phelps and Westboro Baptist Church. Phelps is a Kansas preacher who has made…
Incumbent Democrat Manuel Gonzales and Republican Dan Houston will face off in November’s general election after having won Tuesday’s primary elections for Bernalillo County sheriff. Houston defeated William Kurth in the Republican primary while Gonzales leads a seven-way Democratic primary.…
The Senate Armed Services Committee is scheduled today to consider the bill that includes a repeal of “don’t ask don’t tell.” That’s why a coalition of LGBT-rights organizations pushing to secure passage in the committee, and then later this week…
UNM regents will decide Friday whether to increase student fees by about $10 per semester to fund several projects, including a Queer Resource Center. Despite a strong faculty, staff, and student backing of the center, funding for it has become a…
In a major victory for opponents of the military’s ban on open homosexual service, Defense Secretary Robert Gates significantly revised how the Pentagon will implement the so-called “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law, effectively making it difficult to remove a soldier, sailor, airman or marine who does not out himself or herself as gay.
The Washington Independent is reporting today that Secretary of Defense Robert Gates will relax the enforcement of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy that bars openly gay men and women from serving in the military. Already, legislators in Washington…
