Archive for the ‘Nevada’ Category

The following post comes from HRC Diversity Coordinator Hyacinth Alvaran:

Under the ya es hora iCiudadania! civic engagement banner, Human Rights Campaign steering committees and volunteers in Las Vegas, San Antonio, Dallas, New York, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Washington, D.C., partnered with local and national organizations throughout the month of July (July 10th – 24th) to hold workshops providing assistance to the immigrant community in their applications for U.S. citizenship.

This weekend, I attended a reception for Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) hosted by openly gay congressman, Jared Polis (D-CO). The two have many things in common such as, sitting on the House Education and Labor committee, being freshmen representatives, and both supporting pro-LGBT legislation. Rep. Titus in her first cycle has voted in favor of the Matthew Shepard/James Bird Jr. Hate Crimes Bill, the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, which would repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and is a cosponsor of a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Rep. Polis was in town for Netroots Nation and wanted to lend a hand to Rep. Titus who is a big ally and is facing a tough reelection this year.

On July 10th, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and Harrah’s Entertainment, together with 16 other organizations, presented a community naturalization workshop at the Latin Chamber of Commerce under the historic ya es hora ¡Ciudadanía! (It’s time, Citizenship!) civic engagement campaign, assisting over 100 people in their questions about the naturalization process. More than 52 of them completed their applications to become citizens.

This morning, veterans and allies in Indiana and Nevada spoke with their Senators urging them to support the National Defense Authorization Act. The Act passed the Senate Armed Services Committee last month and contains language that would repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the discriminatory law that bans lesbians and gays from serving openly in the military.

According to the Associated Press (“Thousands register in NV as domestic partners“), domestic partnerships are proving popular in Nevada.  1,002 couples have registered so far according to the Secretary of State Ross Miller (including the 700 or so who pre-registered).  Miller says there’s been a “steady stream” of registrations since the law went into effect on [...]

Starting tomorrow, same- and opposite-sex couples in Nevada can register as domestic partners.  Established when the Nevada State Legislature overrode Governor Jim Gibbon’s veto, the new law permits domestic partners to receive access to essentially all the rights, benefits, and responsibilities under Nevada law that are granted to spouses. Couples who enter into a domestic partnership [...]

Tomorrow is the last day for preregistration for domestic partnerships in Nevada. In the 2009 legislative session, by veto-override, the legislature made Nevada the 14th state to offer some form of state partnership recognition.
The law takes effect on October 1st. Couples that file by the preregistration deadline tomorrow, will be able to pick up their [...]

This news in from HRC’s Political Co-Chair in Nevada, David Gordon:
This morning, the Reno City Council voted to extend benefits to the domestic partners of city employees who are registered under the new domestic partnership law. Reno is the FIRST municipality in Nevada to offer benefits to partners.
Thanks to 3 Degrees and ACLU for getting [...]

If you live in Nevada and are interested in utilizing the state’s new domestic partner registry (the one that was passed over the Governor’s veto in May), here’s what you need to know:

The law goes into effect October 1, 2009
You can pre-file between August 24 and September 24 to become registered on the first day
The fee is [...]

Ed. Note:  Every wonder what life is like for an HRC Regional Field Director?  Tony’s post below answers that question in spades.
We all know the adage, but this time I’m going to break that long standing rule and share with you how my trip went.  I came to Vegas for meetings with our steering committee, [...]