gay rights

GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) — The Boy Scouts of America's National Council has voted to ease a long-standing ban and allow openly gay boys to be accepted as Scouts.

HELENA, Mont. (AP) - The Montana Senate is backing a measure to strike an obsolete state law that criminalizes gay sex.

Frank Kameny, one of the United States’ earliest gay rights activists, died Tuesday — National Coming Out Day — of natural causes at the age of 86. “Frank Kameny led an extraordinary life marked by heroic activism that set a path for the modern LGBT civil rights movement,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese in a statement. “As we say goodbye to this trailblazer on National Coming O

The policy known as “don’t ask, don’t tell,” which has been in place since the Clinton administration, became a thing of the past at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday when the United States became one of more than 40 countries worldwide allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the armed forces. “They will no longer have to lie in order to help protect us,” said Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Ca

At 12:01am Sunday morning, Kitty Lambert and Cheryle Rudd — together for more than a decade with 12 grandchildren between them — became the first gay couple to marry in New York state. As hundreds of supporters cheered, Lambert, 54, and Rudd, 53, exchanged vows in front of Niagara Falls, which was illuminated in rainbow-colored lights to mark the occasion.

On Friday, President Obama joined Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Adm. Mike Mullen in formally signing a document certifying that military readiness would not be hurt by allowing gays in the military. The notice will now be sent to Congress. The action officially repeals the 17-year-old “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy enacted during the Clinton Administration and begins the 60-day waiting period

New York legislators passed a bill legalizing gay marriage in the state on Friday night, with the state Senate approving the bill to a cheering room before 11 p.m.