Last we checked in with Dr. Ruth Jacobs, president of the Maryland Citizens for Responsible Government, she was explaining why transgender women should not be allowed in her bathroom: “If somebody with an opposite body part is allowed in to a ladies’ restroom—a guy who has a penis, who could put his penis inside my vagina—what am I to do?” Jacobs said. “We need to be able to retain the right to speak up about men in our bathrooms without being labeled bigots.”

Okay! Well, now Dr. Jacobs is back to apply her anatomical expertise to the issue of gay marriage. Let’s see what she has to say!

Read More “Dr. Ruth Jacobs Is Back With More Bizarre Genital Commentary” »

On Alternet, Melissa Harris-Lacewell argues that even as the nation fights to establish marriage equality, it must work to reevaluate institution of marriage itself. “Our work must be not just about marriage equality, it should also be about equal marriages, and about equal rights and security for those who opt out of marriage altogether,” she writes. Meanwhile, in Washington D.C., Councilmember David Catania’s efforts to establish same-sex marriage in the District will come with a price for those who “opt out.”  Catania’s bill will allow gay couples to marry in the District of Columbia, but will eliminate another form of legal unions in the District: domestic partnerships. According to the Washington Blade, “Catania’s bill calls for phasing out the city’s domestic partnership law by ending the ability of same-sex or opposite-sex couples to register new domestic partnerships with the city as of Jan. 1, 2011.”

Read More “In Defense of D.C.’s Domestic Partnerships” »

The District of Columbia may be a few Senators short of statehood, but it’s close to securing some other rights for its citizens, D.C. Council member David Catania says. At Saturday’s 2008 GLBT Economic Development Summit, Catania “reaffirmed that a same-sex marriage bill will be introduced to the Council in January, and that he is sure it will pass,” DCist reports. In an interview, Catania said that “[m]any of us on the Council believe that there is no better time that exists than now.”

Bills passed by the D.C. Council are subject to Congressional review. Though some saw the passage of Prop 8 as an indication of how Congress would act on future gay marriage initiatives, Cantania says he’s confident that the Council will pass a measure in January, and that the then largely Democratic Congress will
approve the bill sometime next year.

Photo of Chicago Prop 8 protest by Grant Gochnauer.