After several hours of testimonies and debate, the state Senate Judiciary Committee narrowly passed a bill that would allow same-sex marriage in the state of New Jersey. This move is the first of two steps necessary to actually pass and implement a statewide law. The next step will come Thursday as...

Leland Traiman, who runs a sperm bank in California, worries about his lesbian clients in more conservative parts of the country when he hears fellow gay rights activists talk about winning the right to wed. With 34 states lacking any legal recognition of same-sex relationships, Traiman wonders if all...

New York Court Rules Gay Couples Entitled to Some Benefits New York’s top court ruled Thursday that gay couples legally married elsewhere are entitled to some government benefits, boosting stalled legislative efforts to legalize same-sex marriage. The Court of Appeals rejected a Christian legal...

Lesbian mothers who are not the biological parents of their children have been granted legal recognition by Tasmania’s legislative council. The move means that they will be listed as parents on a child’s birth certificate, rather than having to go through costly adoption procedures. The...

The campaign surrounding Referendum 71 in Washington, much like Maine’s “No on 1″ campaign, has been the subject of heated debate and classic opposition tactics of confusion and fear-mongering. Never fear, loyal readers. Speak Equal is here to shed a little light, a little hope, and...

Gay rights leaders in Florida, the one state that explicity denies gays from adopting, is crossing its fingers that a recently-introduced federal adoption bill will work in their favor. California Congressman Pete Stark introduced the Every Child Deserves a Family Act [H.R 3827] last week, which would...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – The U.S. Census Bureau is making an unprecedented effort to include same-sex couples in next year’s national population count, but counting the number of individuals who identify as gay, lesbian or transgender could be next. Census representatives told community leaders...

Senator Joseph Lieberman’s federal gay partner benefits bill was warmed greeted during a Thursday Senate hearing. The Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act would extend benefits to the gay spouses of federal employees. In June, President Obama signed an executive order that extends...

Couple Martha Daas, right, and Shannon Bowman tried to get a family membership at the Mallory Country Club, but were denied. Not enough club members voted to change the bylaws that would allow same-sex couples to get a family membership, they said. Photo of the family on the front porch of their home...

WASHINGTON — A bill that would allow same-sex couples to marry in the nation’s capital was introduced Tuesday, a measure that even opponents acknowledged seems almost unstoppable. The bill was nearly certain to pass the D.C. city council, but whether it becomes law is more complicated because...