From the Closet to the Courtroom

Gay and Lesbian Pride Month is celebrated each year the month of June. The last Sunday in June is celebrated as Gay Pride Day and here in Austin there will be a fundraiser for Austin Pride at Esther’s Follies June 26.

A few days ago, the county’s largest bankruptcy court declared the law banning federal recognition of gay marriages unconstitutional. The decision issued by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Thomas Donovan was prompted by a joint bankruptcy protection filing by a Los Angeles gay couple legally married in 2008. US Bankruptcy Judge Thomas Donovan ruled that the law violated the Constitution's equal protection guarantee. The U.S. Trustee’s Office, an arm of Department of Justice that oversees bankruptcy cases, asked Donovan to dismiss the case on the grounds that DOMA (Defense of Marraige Act) barred the court from recognizing the couple’s marriage. Donovan declined to dismiss the case, saying the couple demonstrated that there is no valid governmental basis for DOMA. The ruling Monday was also signed by 19 other judges on the 24-member court in an unusually emphatic display of consensus.

The Library has some new books on the legal history of gay rights that will bring you up to date.

From the Closet to the Courtroom: Five LGBT Rights Lawsuits That Have Changed Our Nation

From Disgust to Humanity

Queer (in) Justice: the Criminalization of LGBT People in the United States

Making it Legal: A Guide to Same-Sex Marriage, Domestic Partnership & Civil Unions

See last year's posting for gay fiction titles.