This Week in Lesbian News…

A Super Bowl advertising controversy, surprising support for the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and the 22nd National Conference on LGBT Equality… It’s all that and more in a week of lesbian news…

Victory for Equality in Maryland. On Wednesday (2/3), the Maryland House of Delegates Judiciary Committee defeated a bill that sought to reject recognition of same-sex marriages performed outside of the state. This now prevents the bill from going to a vote on the House floor.

Obama and Clinton Speak Out Against Anti-Gay Bill in Uganda. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke out against the pending anti-homosexuality bill in Uganda at the 58th National Prayer Breakfast on 2/4. The Human Rights Campaign reported that: “during his address, President Obama stated that it is unconscionable, at home or abroad, to target lesbians and gays for who they are.  Moreover, he described the Ugandan anti-homosexuality bill as ‘odious.’”

In related news, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Representative Tammy Baldwin were joined by 11 of their Senate colleagues and 31 of their House colleagues in a recent letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton where they highlighted actions that can be taken by the State Department to address issues concerning foreign LGBT refugees.

Support for DADT Repeal. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, told the Senate Armed Services Committee last week that he personally supports the full repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Adm. Mullen stated: “No matter how I look at the issue, I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens.” Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates also expressed support of a repeal and the two officials announced that a year-long review of the policy will be initiated to decide how best to move forward.

Then, one day later, the effort to repeal the discriminatory law received a monumental boost of support from General Colin Powell.  The former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the 1990’s, who supported the laws passage back in 1993, changed his position in a statement sent out on Wednesday, 2/3, saying, “attitudes and circumstances have changed.” In voicing his support for the law’s repeal, Gen. Powell threw his full support behind the, “the new approach presented to the Senate Armed Services Committee this week by Secretary of Defense Gates and Admiral Mullen.”

Equal Rights Advocates Say “No Thanks” to Visit from the Pope. Secular groups in London spoke out last week demanding that taxpayers should not be required to help finance Pope Benedict the XVI’s visit to the city in September. The groups feel strongly that the Catholic Church’s stance on LGBT issues (Pope Benedict recently made a public statement in opposition to a bill being reviewed by the Parliament in the U.K. that includes language to make it illegal for employers to discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation) does not coincide with British law, which prevents any organization from discriminating against LGBT people.

Gay Marriage Coming Soon for Nepal. In an effort to attract more tourists to the war-ravaged country and boost its economy, Nepal is working to legalize same-sex marriages by May. Sunil Babu Pant, Asia’s only openly gay member of parliament and leader of the Nepal’s LGBT rights movement, has presented the legalization.

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s 22^nd National Conference. National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey presented the annual State of the Movement address last week during the 22nd National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change, in Dallas, Texas. More than 2,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights advocates gathered to strategize on how to advance LGBT equality from 2/3-2/7. To read Carey’s speech visit http://www.thetaskforce.org.

LGBT Safe-Space School Opens. According to GLAAD, a school dedicated to offering LGBT students in grades seven through 12 a learning environment safe from harassment opened in Los Angeles in January. A collaboration between the Opportunities for Learning charter school and the Lifeworks mentoring service sponsored by the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, the program can accommodate up to 40 students and awards a high school diploma upon graduation.

Super Bowl Ad Controversy. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) called on CBS last week to publicly explain its advertising standards following its decision to exclude an ad with gay content from the Super Bowl broadcast. “CBS has a problem when they do something like this at the same time as they allow an anti-gay group like Focus on the Family to place ads during the Super Bowl,” said GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios. “This network should come clean to the public about what’s going on because this seems to be a homophobic double standard.” On Wednesday, GLAAD released a Call to Action for community members and allies to speak out after CBS allowed the anti-gay group Focus on the Family to advertise during the Super Bowl after having unfairly denied that ability to the LGBT-inclusive United Church of Christ in previous years.