Sexual Orientation and the Law Blog

Official Pentagon journal debunks "unit cohesion" as basis for DADT

An official Pentagon journal has published a report calling for the repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.  The article, entitled, “The Efficacy of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’” was written by Col. Om Prakash, and appears in the new issue of Joint Forces Quarterly, a top military journal published for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  According to the article, “there is no scientific evidence to support the claim that unit cohesion will be negatively affected if homosexuals serve openly.” Based on this research, it concludes that the Obama administration should not “reexamine the issue" but instead should "examine how to implement the repeal of the ban.”

Col. Prakash’s study was selected as the first-place winner of the Secretary of Defense National Security Essay competition, which is sponsored by the National Defense University Foundation.  He wrote it while studying at the National Defense University, early in 2009.  Currently he serves in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, where he is Director of Operations for Industrial Policy.

The Palm Center at UC-Santa Barbara has more.

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Florida Coastal School of Law Symposium: Family, Life, and Legacy Planning Issues for the GLBT Community

The Florida Coastal School of Law and Florida Coastal Law Review would like to announce the topic of the Law Review’s second annual Law Symposium, scheduled for March 5, 2010:

Family, Life, and Legacy Planning Issues for the GLBT Community

The Law Review invites the submission of articles, notes, essays, and other scholarly writing.  We encourage submissions from practitioners, authors, and academia.  The Law Review will select five to seven authors to present their papers and participate in panel discussions within each topic.  Articles by symposium participants will also be included in a special edition of the Florida Coastal Law Review, Symposium Edition, which will be published following the symposium.  

We encourage submissions regarding topics of concern within the GLBT community, such as discrimination, policy changes, social impact, and financial concerns.  Florida Coastal Law Review will consider all proposals for publication even if the proposal is not suitable for this year’s symposium.

Proposals should be in the form of abstracts, not to exceed 500 words, and accompanied by the author’s name, contact information, and CV.  The deadline for submission is December 1, 2009.  Please direct inquiries and submissions to Symposium Manager, Nathan R. Ross, at nathan.r.ross@law.fcsl.edu.  The Law Review prefers electronic submissions; however, submissions may also be mailed to the Law Review Office at:  Florida Coastal Law Review, c/o Symposium Manager, 8787 Baypine Road, Jacksonville, Florida  32256.

Professors Nan Hunter and Jillian Weiss discuss ENDA

The gay blog Bilerico features an audio roundtable with Professors Nan Hunter and Jillian Weiss, together with journalist Kerry Eleveld and blogger Chris Geidner, debating various issues and controversies surrounding LGBT federal employment non-discrimination legislation. 

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Williams Institute reports finds widespread discrimination in state employment

A new report from the Williams Institute at UCLA finds that

there is a widespread and persistent pattern of unconstitutional discrimination by state governments on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, and there is no meaningful difference in the pattern and scope of employment discrimination against LGBT people by state governments compared to the private sector and other public sector employers.  There is also evidence that the list of documented examples that we have compiled far under-represents the actual prevalence of employment discrimination against LGBT people by state and local governments. This finding will support Congress in exercising its authority under Section 5 of the 14th amendment to provide a private right of action for damages under ENDA to state government employees who have suffered discrimination. 

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Petitions filed to repeal Prop 8, but is 2010 too soon?

Reuters reports that advocates for marriage equality "hoping to win back the right to marry in California submitted a ballot proposal on Thursday for the November 2010 election -- a date deep-pocketed advocates have said is too soon."

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New edition of Lambda's "Of Counsel" newsletter

The latest issue of Of Counsel, a newsletter from Lambda Legal for lawyers and law students interested in LGBT legal issues, is available online.

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NYT on kids coming out earlier and challenges to GSAs

This coming Sunday's NYT Magazine has a cover story on "Coming Out in Middle School."  It includes discussion of the Equal Access Act and legal challenges over the rights of kids and schools to set up gay-straight alliances.

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Same-sex marriage fading as a "values" wedge issue?

The political web site FiveThirtyEight notes that in a straw poll at last weekend's D.C. conference of conservative Christian activists, abortion ranked first among issues of concern, with protection of religious liberty second with 18 percent.  Opposition to same-sex marriage was third at 7 percent.  Two years ago, gay marriage topped the concerns at the same conference, registering 20 percent.  As analyst Nate Silver observes,

Public opinion is moving toward acceptance of gay marriage. But it is doing so very slowly, at a rate of perhaps a point or two per year, and has at least a few years to go before it is the majority opinion. In the near term, the more relevant dimension may be 'passion', or depth of feeling. It used to be that the conservatives were ahead on passion -- they were strongly opposed to gay marriage, whereas liberals were, at best, lukewarmly in favor of it. Increasingly, that dynamic seems to be reversing.

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More than a quarter of gay couples consider themselves married, census data show

The Advocate reports:

Twenty-seven percent of the estimated 564,743 gay couples in the United States reported themselves as married in 2008, according to the first U.S. Census figures on same-sex marriage provided to the Associated Press.

While the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that approximately 100,000 legal same-sex marriages, civil unions, and domestic partnerships were entered last year, nearly 150,000 same-sex couples reported being in a spousal relationship.

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By the numbers: demographer Gary Gates on gay attitudes toward the military

The ever-innovative Gary Gates of the Williams Institute at UCLA Law School crunches numbers from the General Social Survey and finds that "LGB people are more than twice as likely as heterosexuals to believe that we overspend on the military."  Gary's report and other findings are available from the Palm Center at UC-Santa Barbara.

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Census to count same-sex marriages, laying groundwork for new policy debates

The Washington Post assesses the impact of more accurately and realistically counting the population:

Gay advocates say they plan to use "A Census that Reflects America's Population," as the Census Bureau calls its plan to report same-sex marriage statistics, to push for legislative and policy initiatives, while groups opposed to same-sex marriage weigh a counteroffensive.

Particularly at the state and local levels, gay advocacy groups say census data on income for same-sex couples will show the need for more protections against job discrimination. Statistics on households with children will help them challenge laws limiting gay adoptions and legal guardianship. With raw numbers to illustrate the need, it will be easier to demand services, they say.

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Chai Feldblum to be nominated to EEOC

Georgetown law professor Chai Feldblum, an expert on disability law and gay rights, will be nominated by the Obama administration to the EEOC, the Washington Post reports.

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Call for syllabi on sexuality and law

If you have taught or are teaching a law-school course or seminar on sexuality and the law, sexual orientation and the law, or something similar and would be willing to share your syllabus, please email it to me.  (I'll be teaching such a course at Michigan starting in January.)  I'll make any syllabi I receive available on the web for others to review and download.  Thanks!

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Near-term outlook for repealing DADT called "bleak"

With the Senate and White House swamped by deal-making, posturing, and confusion over health-care reform, there is little prospect for repealing DADT anytime soon, reports Politico:

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) says the Senate is swamped and has little time on the schedule for this fight. The Pentagon brass is reticent and wants a go-slow strategy, while one poll suggests that there is still some resistance within the rank and file of the military to change the“don’t ask, don’t tell” law. With no Republican co-sponsors for a repeal, key moderate Democrats such as Sens. Jim Webb of Virginia and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas remain uncommitted.

And the Senate’s patron saint of this cause, Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), died before being able to introduce long-promised bipartisan legislation to overturn "don’t ask, don’t tell."

. . .

None of this is promising for a gay rights movement that raised a ton of money for President Barack Obama and believed that their moment was now.

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NYT gives strong endorsement to employment non-discrimination

"People who believe in workplace fairness should lobby senators to get on board" with ENDA, the NYT editorialized this weekend. "It is unacceptable that in a nation committed to equality people can still be fired in more than half the states for being gay. Congressional leaders should make passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act a top priority."

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D.C. moves closer to marriage equality; will Democrats in Congress show backbone?

A measure that would legalize same-sex marriage in Washington, D.C., likely has enough support to pass the District council, according to its author, D.C. council member David Catania. 

The measure would have to be reviewed by Congress.  As The Advocate reports:

Peter Rosenstein, a D.C. gay rights activist, told the [Washington] Post he thinks Democrats in Congress are likely to protect the legislation from a vote of disapproval. "Do we have a guarantee?" he said. "No. But we are fairly confident at this point."

Antigay activists, though, are lobbying Congress too, and if the marriage equality law passes, they could mount an effort to repeal it by popular vote. D.C. law prohibits referendums on matters covered by the District’s Human Rights Act, which outlaws discrimination based on sexual orientation, but some antigay ministers and other conservative leaders have asked the local board of elections to authorize a vote in this case.

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Bill to repeal DOMA splits gay pols in Congress

Openly gay Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank is brushing off as unrealistic a bill that will be introduced by New York Rep. Jerrold Nadler to repeal the so-called Defense of Marriage Act.  "I think getting [the Employment Non-Discrimination Act], a repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' and full domestic partner benefits for federal employees will take up all of what we can do and maybe more in this Congress," Frank tells Politico.  Openly gay Reps. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Jared Polis of Colorado support Nadler's approach.

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Same-sex unions account for 13% of Iowa marriages; 46% are from out of state

According to this report, "of 5,214 marriage certificates issued statewide between April 27 and July 27, 676 were for same-sex couples. Gender was concealed on 339 marriage certificates.  Of the 676 same-sex couples, 312 were not from Iowa. Data show 57 were from Illinois, 38 from Nebraska, 37 from Missouri and 36 from Minnesota."

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Great Britain apologizes for treatment of WWII codebreaker Alan Turing, convicted for his homosexuality

Law Dork blogger Chris Geidner reports on Gordon Brown's statement.

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NY congressman will introduce bill to repeal DOMA

The Advocate reports that "Democratic representative Jerrold Nadler of New York will be introducing legislation to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act next Tuesday. A Democratic aide confirmed that a press conference to announce the bill will be held September 15 at 11 a.m. at the House Triangle."

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