Judge Christine Odell Cook Miller of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims issued a ruling on October 18 refusing to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Richard Collins, a gay man who was dismissed from the Air Force under the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy (DADT) and who is challenging the Defense Department's policy of giving people in his situation only half the amount of separation pay that is normally given to individuals who are involuntarily dismissed … <Read More>

Another chapter has been written in the long-running saga over the disclosure of the names and addresses of those who signed petitions in the state of Washington to put a measure on the 2009 general election ballot attempting to repeal a newly-enacted state law expanding the rights of same-sex domestic partners. 

The statute was delayed in going into effect until the vote was held, when a small but comfortable majority of Washington voters cast their ballots … <Read More>

The North Gauteng High Court in Pretora, Republic of South Africa, issued a judgment on September 27, 2011, approved a surrogacy contract involving a male same-sex couple and a woman who agreed to be their gestational surrogate.  In the Ex Parte Matter Between WH, UVS, LG, BJS.  The case provided an opportunity to apply the terms of Section 295 of the Children's Act 38 of 2006, enacted to provide a legal and regulatory framework for … <Read More>

The Latin American News Dispatch Blog has reported that the Supreme Court of Costa Rica has issued its first decision in a gay rights case, ruling that Article 66 of Costa Rica's Technical Penitentiary Regulations, which authorizes "intimate visits" for inmates with visitors of the opposite sex, must be construed to allow intimate visits without regard for the sex of the visitor.  The Blog quotes a press release from the court stating, "This Court considers … <Read More>

The High Court of Australia, in a virtuosic display of statutory interpretation, has ruled that The Gender Reassignment Act 2000 of Western Australia should be construed to authorize a legal recognition of change of gender identity from female to male without any need for internal surgery to terminate the individual's reproductive capacity.  The October 6 ruling in AB v. Western Australia, [2011] HCA 42, reversed a decision of the Court of Appeals of the … <Read More>

In a decision released on September 28, 2011, U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson of the Central District of California ruled that binding 9th Circuit precedent requires him to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Customs and Immigration Service's refusal to recognize a same-sex marriage between a U.S. citizen and a citizen of Indonesia.  Judge Wilson relied on a nearly-thirty-year-old ruling that predates positive advances in gay rights in the Supreme Court.

The plaintiffs, Lui … <Read More>

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, based in San Francisco, ruled on September 29 that the implementation of the Don't Ask Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 on September 20, 2011, put an end to the "case or controversy" raised many years ago when Log Cabin Republicans sued the federal government for a judicial declaration that the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy was unconstitutional and for an injunction … <Read More>

New York County Surrogate Court Judge Kristin Booth Glen ruled on September 14, 2011, that the late H. Kenneth Ranftle was domiciled in New York at the time of his death and rejected a challenge to probate of his will brought by his brother, Ronald Ranftle, who argued that Ken was a Florida domiciliary.  Ranftle's domicile at death was important because his marriage to J. Craig Leiby is recognized under New York law, but would … <Read More>