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Lisa Miller (left) disappeared with seven-year-old Isabella nearly two months ago after a judge ruled she had to hand the child over to her former civil partner Janet Jenkins (right). Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell has reversed an executive order that protected gay state employees from discrimination. New York Senator Charles E. Schumer announced he is recommending a gay man to serve as a judge in New York's Southern District federal court. Former Vice President Dick Cheney has endorsed the repeal of the Pentagon's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

Mississippi school cancels prom over lesbian student's date
PinkNews.co.uk, March 11, 2010
A Mississippi school has cancelled its prom rather than allow a lesbian student to wear a tuxedo and arrive with her date. Constance McMillen, an 18-year-old student at Itawamba Agricultural High School, was told she could attend the event with her girlfriend, also a student at the school.

Virginia governor issues directive against discrimination
CulpeperNews.com, March 11, 2010
After a day of legislative maneuvering and protests, Gov. Bob McDonnell issued an unusual executive directive saying workplace discrimination, including bias against gays, is prohibited in Virginia. The governor’s directive comes as the outcry increased against Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s opinion delivered to state college and university leaders last Thursday, saying that it was illegal for them to have policies that ban discrimination against gays without a mandate from the legislature.

Archdiocese defends decision to deny children because of lesbian parents
CNN.com, March 10, 2010
The archdiocese of Denver, Colorado, is defending its decision not to re-enroll two children in a Catholic school in Boulder next year because their parents are lesbians. "The Church does not claim that people with a homosexual orientation are 'bad,' or that their children are less loved by God," wrote Archbishop Charles J. Chaput in an article to be published in Thursday's edition of the Denver Catholic Register.

Ex-Congressman describes tickle fights with aides
New York Times, March 10, 2010
Former Representative Eric J. Massa of New York, who resigned from Congress amid allegations of sexual misconduct, vehemently denied any wrongdoing during a television appearance on Tuesday, even as he described having tickle fights with staff members in a house they shared.

Virginia attorney general says colleges that protect gays overstep law
Fairfax Times, March 10, 2010
Virginia Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli sparked a political firestorm last week when he advised the governing bodies of the state's public colleges and universities that their nondiscrimination policies may violate state law. His letter, sent as opinion and advice of the Office of the Attorney General, suggests that universities do not have the authority to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender classification.

Conservative California state senator comes out
GayPolitics.com, March 9, 2010
California State Sen. Roy Ashburn, a conservative Republican with a solidly anti-gay voting record, came out as gay today on a Bakersfield radio station talk show. Ashburn’s sexual orientation had been the talk of Sacramento since the legislator was arrested for drunk driving after leaving a gay bar in the state capital last week.

DC gay couples begin marrying today
PinkNews.co.uk, March 9, 2010
The first gay couples to marry in Washington DC held their ceremonies today. They were able to apply for marriage licenses last Wednesday and, due to a mandatory waiting period, the first ceremonies were set to take place today.

Anti-gay protestors under Supreme Court scrutiny
AFP, March 9, 2010
The US Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether vitriolic anti-gay protestors who picket the funerals of US soldiers are protected by free speech laws. The emotionally-charged case was brought by the family of US Marine Matthew Snyder, who was killed in combat in Iraq in 2006.

House Democrat days party drove him from office
New York Times, March 9, 2010
Representative Eric J. Massa, a Democrat from upstate New York accused of sexually harassing a male aide, charged in a radio interview over the weekend that Democratic Party leaders were behind an effort to drive him out of office and that the White House chief of staff was the "son of the devil’s spawn."

Lesbian couple not allowed to re-enroll child in Boulder Catholic school
ABC26.com, March 8, 2010
A lesbian couple, who have attended Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Boulder for years, has been denied the right to re-enroll their child in the church's preschool. That ruling was made by Fr. Bill Breslin last week. He told staff at the school, "It was the hardest decision I have ever made in my life."

Rove addresses his dad's sexuality
Advocate, March 8, 2010
Karl Rove, who served as senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to former President George W. Bush, addresses questions about his father's sexual orientation in his new memoir, "Courage and Confidence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight," The Washington Post reports.

Joe Lieberman presses on 'Don't Ask'
Politico.com, March 5, 2010
On Thursday, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), the sponsor of a Senate bill to repeal the policy, asked top military and civilian leaders personal opinions during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on whether men and women, otherwise able to live by the military’s standards of conduct, should be discharged just because of their sexual orientation.

Rep. Frank: ENDA will get House vote this month
Keen News Service, March 5, 2010
Rep. Barney Frank’s prediction this week is that ENDA will have its vote in the House Committee this month. And he said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has assured him it will go swiftly to the floor.

Senators seek repeal on blood-donation ban for gay men
Wall Street Journal, March 5, 2010
The time has come to change a policy that imposes a lifetime ban on donating blood for any man who has had gay sex since 1977, 18 senators said Thursday. The lawmakers said that the science has changed dramatically since the ban was established in 1983 at the advent of the HIV-AIDS crisis.

Repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy filed in Senate
New York Times, March 4, 2010
Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, introduced a bill on Wednesday to repeal the ban on openly gay service members in the military, but at a hearing later in the day Republican lawmakers questioned why lifting the ban was necessary.

Gay marriage is legal in U.S. capital
New York Times, March 4, 2010
Gay rights advocates hailed the day as a milestone for equal rights and a symbolic victory as same-sex marriage became legal in the nation’s capital. Washington is now the sixth place in the nation where same-sex marriages can take place.

Four candidates for Rhode Island governor support same-sex marriage
Providence Journal, March 4, 2010
They filled the State House rotunda and lined the balconies on the second floor - so many that organizers said it was the largest turnout yet for a marriage-equality rally in the building where Rhode Island makes its laws.

New legislation targets same-sex divorce
Los Angeles Times, March 4, 2010
You've heard the debate about same-sex marriage. Now one San Francisco lawmaker wants to simplify same-sex divorce. A new bill by Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, a Democrat, would make it easier for gay and lesbian couples to legally separate.

Supreme Court refuses to stop DC's gay marriage law
New York Times, March 3, 2010
The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to block the District of Columbia's gay marriage law, freeing the city to issue its first marriage licenses to same-sex couples the following day.

Gates previews study on 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'
WXIA-TV Atlanta, March 3, 2010
A Pentagon study on how to implement a plan to allow gays to serve openly in the military, "can only be successful if it is managed in a way that minimizes disruption to a force engaged in combat operations," according to Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

D.C. Catholic Charities limits same-sex couple benefits
Washington Times, March 3, 2010
On the eve of the enactment of the District of Columbia's law allowing gay marriages, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington limited employee health care benefits Tuesday to avoid coverage of same-sex couples.

'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' repeal moves closer
Guardian Unlimited, March 3, 2010
Five senators to introduce bill aimed at repealing 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy barring gays serving in the US military The end of the " Don't Ask, Don't Tell " military code a ' barring gays and lesbians from serving openly in the US armed forces a ' is in sight, as five senators will launch legislation on Wednesday designed to scrap the policy.

GOP dismisses military study on gays as biased
WKBT, March 3, 2010
Some Republicans are dismissing a planned nine-month Pentagon study on gays in the military as biased because it assumes Congress will eventually repeal the 1993 law known as "don't ask, don't tell."

California Assembly swears in its first gay speaker
Los Angeles Times, March 2, 2010
John A. Pérez takes the oath in an untraditional ceremony. His priorities include restoring simple majority rule on budget issues and barring lobbyists from texting legislators during floor debate.

D.C. gears up for marriage license rush
NBC Washington, March 2, 2010
Same-sex couples in D.C. have been waiting a long time to tie the knot, so a big rush is expected March 3 at superior court, the first day for couples to get their marriage licenses.

Supreme Court asked to halt start of DC gay marriage
On Top Magazine, March 2, 2010
The Associated Press is reporting that foes of a DC gay marriage law set to take effect Wednesday are asking the Supreme Court to halt its start.

HRC's Solmonese signals softening of gay rights support
On Top Magazine, March 1, 2010
Human Rights Campaign (HRC) President Joe Solmonese suggested Saturday that support for gay rights would likely soften after the November elections. The admission from the helm of the nation's largest gay advocacy group left bloggers who've been pressuring the group to up the ante stunned.

Anti-gay bill filed in Illinois state senate
Windy City Times, March 1, 2010
A measure that would roll back some of the protections that the Illinois Human Rights Bill—which prohibits discrimination on the bases of sexual orientation and gender identity—currently provides has been filed in the Illinois Senate.

Help wanted on gay housing study
Advocate.com, February 26, 2010
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development wants gay input for a new study designed to measure housing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Gay marriage makes gain in Maryland
New York Times, February 25, 2010
State agencies in Maryland should recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states until the legislature or courts decide otherwise, Maryland's attorney general said Wednesday in a long-awaited legal opinion.

Top Marine softens stance on 'don't ask'
TwinCities.com, February 25, 2010
The commandant of the Marine Corps, who previously had publicly opposed lifting the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military, on Wednesday softened his position by endorsing a Pentagon study of the issue.

New York campaign goes after opponents of gay marriage
New York Times, February 25, 2010
Leading national advocates of gay marriage have formed a group to campaign against New York State senators who opposed same-sex marriage. In total, the political action committee, called Fight Back New York, is prepared to raise and spend in the high six figures range in the State Senate races this year, according to people involved with the committee.

Harold Ford admits "wrongness" on gay marriage, heckled by Stonewall Democrats
The Village Voice, February 25, 2010
The papers have been giving Harold Ford Jr.'s undeclared run against Kirsten Gillibrand lots of respect. But Gillibrand has a few friends, and Ford ran into them at the LGBT Community Center in the West Village, where he spoke to the Stonewall Democrats last night. Though candidates usually get a respectable hearing, or at least suppressed disagreement, from the gay Democratic club, Ford was heckled.

GLBT provisions missing in president's new health care proposal
Bay Area Reporter, February 25, 2010
President Barack Obama released a new health care reform proposal Monday, February 22 that he says incorporates work done in the House and Senate and adds ideas from Republican members of Congress. But there's no inclusion in this new proposal of any of the gay-related provisions in the original House bill.

Gay soldier killed in action in Afghanistan
Sun-Herald.com, February 25, 2010
Congressman Jim Moran read a letter on the floor of the House of Representatives today from an active duty soldier in Afghanistan. Congressman Moran stated that the soldier had, "learned that a fellow soldier was also gay, only after he was killed by an IED in Iraq. The partner of the deceased soldier wrote the unit to say how much the victim had loved the military; how they were the only family he had ever known."

Two generals wary about repealing gay policy
New York Times, February 24, 2010
The top generals from the Army and the Air Force expressed deep concern on Tuesday about moving rapidly to lift the ban on openly gay service members, saying it could make it harder for their forces to do their jobs while fighting two wars.

Warrant issued for Va. mom in lesbian child custody case
Barre-Montpelier Times-Argus, February 24, 2010
An arrest warrant has been issued in Vermont for a mother from Virginia on the run with her daughter. But the order issued Tuesday by Rutland Family Court Judge William Cohen would only put Lisa Miller in jail if she and her 7-year-old daughter are found in Vermont.

Despite defeat, same-sex marriage advocates rally in Albany
Press & Sun-Bulletin, February 24, 2010
Some might think that two months after the Senate nixed a same-sex marriage bill and eight months before an election that could shift New York's balance of power isn't the best time to lobby on the issue, but gay-rights advocates disagreed Tuesday.

War general: gay, straight should be OK to serve
Washington Post, February 24, 2010
Gen. Raymond Odierno, the top commanding general in Iraq, says he thinks everyone - gay and straight - should be allowed to serve in the military "as long as we are still able to fight our wars."

Would-be Miss California says God wants gays dead
PinkNews.co.uk, February 24, 2010
A contestant for the 2010 Miss California pageant has given her views on same-sex marriage, saying that the Bible is "pretty black and white" on what should happen to gays. Miss Beverly Hills 2010 Lauren Ashley, who evidently hopes to follow in the footsteps of last year's Miss California Carrie Prejean, was speaking to Fox News.

Army to oppose immediate suspension of gay firings
ABC News, February 23, 2010
The Army's top leaders say they would oppose any legislation to force the Army to temporarily cease dismissals under its "don't ask, don't tell" policy against gays in the military while a broader Pentagon assessment is being done.