Just 5 days ago, Argentina set a historic precedent as the first Latin American nation to legalize same-sex marriage. The 33-27 Senate vote was a fitting passage as part of President Cristina Fernandez’ administration, and even received lauds from Mexico City which offered a free honeymoon to the first gay Argentine couple to marry.

After months of humiliation and injustice for wanting to attend her high school prom with her girlfriend, Constance McMillen has finally received a settlement from the northern Mississippi school district that refused her entrance and canceled the official prom to prevent McMillen’s attendance. McMillen received $35,000 in damages, and the ACLU, who led the prosecution of the school district, were able to effect an agreement from the school district to enforce a non-discrimination policy for gay students.

An adjunct professor at the University of Illinois was recently fired for making disparaging comments about homosexuality in his Catholicism classes. Kenneth Howell was appointed to teach these Catholic studies classes by St. John’s Catholic Newman Center through a partnership with U of I that began in 1971; the university will now be reviewing this policy to assess if it violates the separation of church and state and hope to have a firm new policy by the fall semester.

Earlier today, Hawai’i Governor Linda Lingle vetoed a same-sex civil unions bill that had been sitting on her desk for weeks awaiting a decision. Today was the final day for a decision, following a lengthy public outreach process; had Lingle done nothing, the bill would have automatically passed and legalized gay civil unions in the state.

Icelandic Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir wed her longtime partner Jonina Leosdottir on Sunday, June 27 after the enforcement of a gay marriage law passed in the country on June 12. Sigurdardottir is the world’s first openly gay leader and the first to be legally married in her own country.

On Wednesday, June 30, Lieutenant Dan Choi and Captain James Pietrangelo subpoenaed President Barack Obama to testify at their civil disobedience trial. The pair claim that they were not acting criminally as Obama’s direct orders were for the LGBT community to “pressure” him to overturn DADT and allow for other gay civil rights victories.

Google decided to change more than its logo on July 1: the search engine company decided to use employee suggestions to pay homosexual employees with partners more salary. This move was made to offset the costs gay couples in domestic partnerships face because extending their health benefits to their partners is considered taxable income, while those same benefits are untaxed for married couples.

A Georgian woman who was fired from her job after announcing her intention to transition was vindicated in Federal court when a judge ruled that her firing was unjust due to the Equal Protection Clause. Vandy Beth Glenn’s transition from Glenn Morrison was met with hostility by her former boss who fired her on moral grounds.

As of June 10, transgender Americans are able to acquire a passport for their preferred gender without having to go through sexual reassignment surgery first. The State Department has stated that transgender individuals only need documentation from a doctor that she or he has been through proper clinical treatment.

The U.S. Department of Labor will be announcing new regulations this week that will allow same-sex couples time off to care for newborns or significant others. The regulations will extend the Family and Medical Leave Act, a nearly twenty-year-old law that allows  heterosexual couples 12 weeks unpaid time to care for their spouses or loved ones and newborns.

Iraqi police raided a safe house in Karbala last Tuesday and arrested 6 LGBT people. One person has been located in a local hospital; the remaining five–two transgender people, two gay men, and one lesbian–have still not been located, but are speculated to be held at Baghdad’s Interior Ministry, according to UK-based organization Iraqi LGBT.

The Chicago Blackhawks are spreading the enthusiasm of their Stanley Cup win to the queers. Defenseman Brent Sopel will be accompanying the Cup during this year’s Pride Parade on Sunday, June 27 as part of the Chicago Gay Hockey Association’s float. The Chicago Cubs will also be the first major sports team to have a float in the Chicago Pride Parade as part of this year’s festivities.

The early ’80s-adopted blood donation policy that restricts men who have sex with other men from donating was upheld on June 11 by the Federal Advisory Committee for Blood Safety and Availability, which regulates rules for organizations like the American Red Cross. The policy prohibits men who have had any sexual intercourse with another man since 1977 from providing blood for medical emergencies. Following thisIllinois Rep. Mike Quigley publicly endorsed his support of a repeal of this policy.

Iceland legalized same-sex marriage on June 11 with a unanimous 49-0 vote. Iceland has been an increasingly LGBT-accepting country, electing the first openly gay head of state last year with prime minister Johanna Sigurdardottir.

Closing arguments in the case against California’s Proposition 8 are being heard today. Thousands of same-sex couples who were married between the overruling of a previous law prohibiting same-sex marriage and the passage of Prop 8 are awaiting a determination of whether their marriages are still valid. A final decision is expected in a matter of weeks.

Malawian couple Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga were released from prison on May 29, a week after their 14-year conviction for sodomy and indecency. The pair were arrested in December following an engagement ceremony, but have split up since the presidential pardon, many media speculating for safety issues following death and renewed arrest threats.

Though rife with potatoes, potato bugs and Latter-Day Saints, Idaho isn’t just a state anymore. For the last five years, it has also been an acronym for the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (hopefully, we will soon see an IDAHOT). Monday’s Chicago demonstration took place in Millenium Park at Monroe and Michigan and was a combined effort between the Gay Liberation Network, Courage Nigeria and the Coalition for Justice and Respect. Nigerian gay activist John Adewoye spoke while supporters marched with rainbow flags and passed out literature about the troubling laws and conditions facing many African LGBT people.

IDAHO is a kick-off to the Harvey Milk Week of Action which supports the gay icon’s legacy by mobilizing a politically oriented queer community. The week is sponsored by GLN, CJR, Join the Impact, LGBT Change and Columbia College’s LGBT resource Common Ground. Other events to celebrate this week include a Flashmob at Federal Plaza (230 S. Dearborn) on Thursday at noon and a Queer Noise open mic at New Wave Coffee (2557 N. Milwaukee Blvd.) on Friday at 8pm. The week ends with a Saturday march and rally in honor of Harvey Milk Day, beginning at Michigan and Congress at 1pm. Get your gay feet moving and make strides against homophobia this week.

On April 15, President Obama called on the Department of Health and Human Services to enforce a ruling that all federally funded hospitals would have to allow visitation rights to non-relatives. This primarily affects gay and lesbian domestic partners, but can include unmarried couples and any non-relative designated by a patient as having a right to visit.

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer recently rescinded legislation that allowed domestic partner benefits to lesbian and gay couples. By signing a bill that redefined dependent status in that state, Brewer took away these protections, as well as dependent status for disabled adults and full-time students 23 and older.

A transgender Cal State Long Beach student was slashed multiple times by an assailant in one of the campus bathrooms Thursday, April 15. The student was released from the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries; authorities believe the assailant knew the student as he called the student’s name directly before the attack.

Trans woman Ashley Santiago Ocasio was murdered last week by gun in her home in central Puerto Rico. The investigation is proceeding as a robbery, but activist Pedro Julio Serrano–who also spoke out in the death of gay Puerto Rican teen Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado in November–is making sure the police keep hate bias in mind as a possible motive. Puerto Rico has never passed a 2002 hate crime law that identifies penalties for crimes committed based on gender expression or sexual identity.

As part of an April 20 protest against DADT at the White House in which six LGBT individuals chained themselves to the White House fence and subsequently arrested, transgender veteran Autumn Sandeen relates that her experience with offers was extremely abusive. Sandeen was demeaned with names like “it” and “shim” by officers as well as placed in a cell with male prisoners after self-identifying as female and providing satisfactory documentation of her gender. Sandeen has written a letter to President Obama urging a reaction to this treatment.

Gay military man Lt. Dan Choi, still awaiting discharge for being homosexual, recently handcuffed himself to the White House with comrade Capt. Jim Pietrangelo to protest the lack of inaction by the White House on repealing DADT, among other LGBT-rights legislation. Choi also had some choice words for the Human Rights Campaign’s coddling of the White House and lack of gumption to push for timely rights reform: “There is a deep schism [in the gay-rights movement], everyone knows this. But this shouldn’t be about which group has better branding. There is a tremor right now in every gay and transgender youth that these groups are not grasping. I would say to them–you do not represent us if all you are looking for is a ladder in to elite society.”

Almost a month ago, transgender people in France were treated to the news that trandgenderism is no longer considered a mental illness. Though in many ways a symbolic gesture, it is a much more liberated stance than many countries take on transgender people and their autonomy, including the United States.

After (many) years of speculation, Ricky Martin has come out as a gay man. Lest you think this is unimportant because a) who cares who’s gay or not? or b) we’re nearly a decade from Martin’s height of popularity, blog VivirLatino relates how crucial this acknowledgment is by stating, “Let’s just take a moment to remind ourselves that he is identifying as a gay Puerto Rican man at a time when gay Puerto Rican men get murdered for begin gay, Puerto Rican, and male.”

At the annual National Prayer Breakfast on February 4, President Obama condemned Ugandan legislation that would penalize homosexual people for engaging in homosexuality. Speaking before a room filled with sponsors of the breakfast, the Fellowship Foundation–an organization linked to efforts to pass the anti-LGBT bill–Obama called the measures “unconscionable” and “odious.”

60 members of Congress have signed a letter addressed to President Obama urging him to pass the comprehensive immigration-reform Uniting American Families Act with language that allows LGBT U.S. nationals to sponsor their partners
in binational families.

The European Parliament reaffirmed today that securing LGBT rights were an important consideration for candidate countries applying to join the European Union.

A school program for LGBT students recently opened in Los Angeles. A collaboration with Opportunities for Learning, the anti-harassment school would offer around 40 7th through 12th graders an alternative program with an independent study angle. Students meet with an instructor twice a week and spend the other weekdays completing a full day of schoolwork at home.

If you are planning on spending your Valentine’s weekend eating pints of Chubby Hubby and watching Love, Actually fourteen times, fear not! Single Mingle will be hosting their Big Gay Valentine’s Day show at Spybar (646 N. Franklin) on Saturday, February 13. Single Mingle utilizes familiar dating game elements in a live environment that allows the crowd to size each other up and pair off while three predetermined contestants vie for the hand of one lucky lonesome. Doors open at 6 PM followed by two shows separated by an intermission.

If you’re looking for something to do with a special someone this weekend, head to Chicago’s Freedom to Marry Day events, which will include a demonstration by the LGBTQA Liberation Network on Valentine’s Day outside Holy Name Cathedral (735 N. State St.) picketing Cardinal Francis George and his efforts within the Catholic church to staunch equal marriage. Meet up at 10:30 AM, just in time for mass! London will be holding a similar demonstration that day to protest a visit by the Pope, organizing for a secular Europe as well as LGBT and women’s rights.

Note: We’re retooling our News section to cover news in a way more fitting to our voice and with slightly more editorial comment. Take this moment to ogle our new side image as well.

With all eyes on the national repeal of DOMA, we may have overlooked the inequity in our own state. But just last week, State Senator Heather Steans proposed the Equal Marriage Act to the state senate. This is the first bill to be introduced in the Illinois senate, but it meshes well with the current Same-Sex Marriage and Religion Freedoms Act by Representative Greg Harris in the state House.

Even though it has long been proven that gay men are not the only carriers of HIV, only making up about half the newly infected rate in the U.S., no one CC’ed blood donation centers. A Canadian man recently filed a countersuit against Canadian Blood Services who were suing him for not revealing his status as MSM when donating between 1998 and 2002. MSM are one of the few major groups, and the only one based on sexual practice, to be denied as blood donors based simply on the demerit of having homoerotic intercourse since the arbitrary date of 1977 (because no one could possibly have had AIDS before then). Kyle Freeman’s lawsuit asserts that all applicants should be reviewed based on their behavior and not their identity and is another example in a long list of people fighting to change this near-universal policy.

On Thursday, October 1, a Texas judge ruled that the state ban on same-sex marriage violated the equal protection clause in the state constitution when deciding in a case of same-sex divorce. The attorney general filed an accelerated appeal, but the court will go ahead and file the divorce papers in the meantime. Speculation is high as to whether or not this will mean a trend toward marriage equality in the state or if this is an isolated instance.

The murder of British consul John Terry in his current home country of Jamaica is now being claimed by some to have been motivated by homophobia. An alleged note was found along with Terry’s body that was a threat to gay men, and although Jamaican police believe that the motive was not a hate crime due to evidence, especially no sign of forced entry into Terry’s home, Jamaica still has a history of violence toward homosexuals and a standing law that convicts men who have sexual contact with each other to ten years in prison.

On Wednesday, September 9, Uruguay became the first Latin American country to allow adoption for lesbian and gay couples. This follows precedence set by Uruguay in allowing same-sex civil unions and for LGBT students to attend military academies.

New Jersey Stonewall Democrat president Barbra Casbar Siperstein became the newest member of the DNC‘s governing body last Friday. Siperstein is the first transwoman to be elected to a position with the DNC and joins 5 other recent LGBT appointments.

Today, Rep. John Nadler of New York introduced a bill to Congress to be known as the “Respect for Marriage Act of 2009.” The bill looks to repeal the current federal DOMA that prevents same-sex couples from receiving federal benefits and recognition. In other news to bolster this repeal, The Huffington Post reports that the divorce rate in the first state to legalize gay marriage 5 years ago are the lowest in the country. In fact, they’re lower than the national divorce rate was in 1940, before the start of World War II. Does this signify the beginning of a gay baby boom?