Lawyer Denied State Position Because He's Gay
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
(Des Moines, Iowa)
  Iowa Republicans are blocking the appointment of a Des Moines lawyer to the State Board of Education because he is gay. Jonathan Wilson was hand picked by Democratic Gov. Tom Vilsack.  Wilson who is openly gay, served for 12 years on the Des Moines School Board as well as a number of national education panels. "This is not about his qualifications. This is about his sexual orientation," an angry Vilsack told reporters Thursday. "It's wrong, it's divisive and it's not inclusive.


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OSC Flip Flops - Gays Again Protected
by Paul Johnson
365Gay.com Newscenter
(Washington, D.C.) The Office of the Special Counsel has finally conceded that it was wrong to have announced gays and lesbians working for the federal government were no longer protected against discrimination in the workplace. In a statement released late Thursday Special Counsel Scott J. Bloch said, “It is the policy of this Administration that discrimination in the federal workforce on the basis of sexual orientation is prohibited.”


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Judge excludes antigay group from California marriage suit

California superior court judge James L. Warren on Thursday denied the request of the antigay Proposition 22 Legal Defense and Education Fund to participate as a party in Woo v. Lockyer, the lawsuit brought by the National Center for Lesbian Rights on behalf of six same-sex couples, Equality California, and Our Families Coalition. The lawsuit argues that denying same-sex couples the right to marry violates the California constitution's guarantees of equality, liberty, and privacy. Ruling from the bench after extensive oral argument by both sides, the judge held that the Proposition 22 Fund did not meet the legal standard for intervention, which requires showing that the proposed intervenor may be harmed directly by the outcome of the case. Warren found that the Proposition 22 Fund had not shown any way in which its members would be harmed by a ruling that same-sex couples can marry in California. "We are very pleased by the court's ruling," said Shannon Minter, legal director for NCLR. "This case is about real families who are harmed by being denied the right to marry. The couples who brought this lawsuit are entitled to their day in court without undue interference by an outside group with no direct interest in the case. The court correctly found that merely having a political interest in an issue does not meet