senate

Next stop - House of Reps.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted today to move forward a bill that would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. The committee voted 10-8 along party lines in favor of the Respect for Marriage Act. Its prospects on the Senate floor remain unknown. Introduced in the Senate in March by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the bill currently has 30 cosponsors.

Sens. Collins and Snowe joined a GOP filibuster, preventing debate of the National Defense Authorization Act, to which the "don't ask, don't tell" repeal measure was attached.

With cautious support from Republicans, ENDA seems to have gained a majority of support in the Senate.

With former senator Russ Feingold's announcement today that he won't run for an open seat in Wisconsin, the way has been cleared for lesbian Rep. Tammy Baldwin to launch a campaign. Baldwin had waited on the conclusion of her state's recall elections earlier this month and then on a decision from Feingold, who led all polls, before making her own announcement.

Wisconsin Rep. Tammy Baldwin’s potential bid for retiring Sen. Herb Kohl's seat appears all the more plausible, given the openly gay congresswoman's campaign coffers. Baldwin raised $502,000 in the second quarter and now has $1.1 million in cash on hand. She raised $435,000 last month alone.

The U.S. Senate failed on Thursday to move forward a repeal of "don't ask, don't tell."  Though Maine senator Susan Collins voted to support moving forward the National Defense Authorization Act, of which DADT repeal is a component, many senators crucial to repeal voted No, including senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Scott Brown of Massachusetts, and Olympia Snowe of Maine.

Democrats Cory Booker and Sherrod Brown delivered impassioned speeches on the Senate floor.

The French Senate took a major step toward embracing marriage equality late Tuesday, when it approved an article establishing gender-neutral language to refer to spouses by a margin of 179-157

The Maryland Senate is expected to begin debate on the marriage equality bill Thursday as opponents plan amendments intended to derail the proposal that narrowly passed the House of Delegates last week.

The "It Gets Better" video universe for LGBT youth now includes 13 senators who released their own version Wednesday. The video features Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Mark Udall (D-Colo.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

Maryland senators voted on Monday to recommit the Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination Act to committee, effectively killing any prospects for the bill to pass this session, which ends at midnight. Shortly before 1 p.m. on the last day of session, senators voted 27 to 20 to recommit the bill to the judicial proceedings committee, which had advanced the measure by a 7 to 4 vote on Saturday. The move left no time to resurrect the bill in 2011.

The Indiana state senate Tuesday passed a bill, with a 40-10 vote, that could constitutionally ban marriage equality and civil unions. The state house already approved the measure. If it is approved again by the legislature in 2013 or 2014, the measure could go to voters as a ballot initiative in 2014, allowing Indianans to decide whether the state will recognize marriages and civil unions for same-sex couples.

A debate predicted to last the entire day and beyond took only two hours Wednesday morning as Maryland senators voted 25-22 shortly after noon to advance the marriage equality bill to a third and final reading on Thursday followed by a final vote. Sen. Bryan Simonaire, a Republican from Anne Arundel County who proposed to exempt teachers from presenting marriage equality based on their religious beliefs, repeatedly raised the specter of “unintended consequences” to the marriage equality bill, such as school children reading books about same-sex couples. Sen. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Montgomery County, led the debate in favor of the marriage equality bill and consistently countered opponents’ arguments.

The Hawaii senate passed a civil unions bill Friday that, unlike a previous civil unions bill, will likely make its way to a supportive governor.  The bill, SB 232, passed by a 19-6 vote and is identical to HB 444, a 2010 civil unions bill passed by both Hawaii's house and senate but vetoed by then-governor Linda Lingle. Lingle, a Republican, was termed out of office in 2010, and Democrat Neil Abercrombie, a civil unions supporter, was elected in November.

Wyoming residents are one step closer to voting on a constitutional ban on marriage equality now that the senate has passed a measure on Thursday calling for the ballot initiative.