National Gaze

The first same-sex couple estimates derived from the 2010 biennial Census were released in June, offering snapshots of gay domesticity in seven states.

The earliest estimates, released by the Williams Institute, a think tank at UCLA School of Law, are for Alabama, California, Delaware, Hawaii, Kansas, Pennsylvania and Wyoming, with more state estimates to arrive as the data review continues.

A lawsuit filed in Nashville challenging a new state law says the legislation voids school board policies that protect gay students from bullying and harassment.

The law prohibits local governments from creating anti-discrimination regulations that are stricter than the state’s and repealed a Nashville city ordinance barring companies that discriminate against gays and lesbians from doing business with the city. Nashville’s ordinance was broader than the state’s anti-discrimination laws, which only cover race, creed, color, religion, sex, age or national origin.

As the gay-rights movement advances, there’s increasing evidence of an intriguing role reversal: Today, it’s the conservative opponents of that movement who seem eager to depict themselves as victims of intolerance.

To them, the gay-rights lobby has morphed into a relentless bully – pressuring companies and law firms into policy reversals, making it taboo in some circumstances to express opposition to same-sex marriage.

An employee at a public swimming pool in eastern Kentucky was suspended for a week without pay after telling two disabled gay men to leave, city of Hazard officials said in late June.

The suspended city employee, Kim Haynes, told investigators that the two men were engaged in an excessive display of affection June 10, and that he would have told any other couple to leave had he seen similar behavior. Haynes, however, also acknowledged he said, “We don’t tolerate that kind of activity around here” and cited the Bible in an argument with Laura Quillen, a member of the social service group Mending Hearts.

Liberal Democratic activists are grousing that President Barack Obama is just not that into them. They vented their frustration over the pace of change to a White House spokesman June 17 at a big weekend meeting.

White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer faced some tough questions about Obama’s first-term at the annual Netroots Nation conference of liberal bloggers and activists.

As the gay-rights movement advances, there’s increasing evidence of an intriguing role reversal: Today, it’s the conservative opponents of that movement who seem eager to depict themselves as victims of intolerance.

To them, the gay-rights lobby has morphed into a relentless bully – pressuring companies and law firms into policy reversals, making it taboo in some circumstances to express opposition to same-sex marriage.

Dozens of union groups have committed to campaigning for same-sex marriage in New York.

An intense effort is underway in the state to move a marriage equality bill before the current legislative session ends this month. The push has the support of a majority of Democratic lawmakers in Albany, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former Republican National Committee Chair Ken Mehlman, a number of Fortune 500 companies headquartered in New York and a coalition of civil rights groups.

Police say a transient parolee was arrested on suspicion of a hate crime for hanging a noose in the doorway of a California gay rights organization in October.

Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said that 45-year-old Marten Joseph Brandel was arrested when he showed up for a scheduled parole appointment in Irvine.