The Senate has voted to renew the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and has extended protections for LGBT victims of domestic violence. This follows the rejection of a non-inclusive, Republican sponsored alternative piece of legislation last week. 

More after the jump.

Republican House Speaker John Boehner, one of the primary proponents of the continued defense of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), swore in two openly gay House Reps on Thursday. 

Check out photos of Boehner with the new House Reps and their beautiful families (you know...the ones he's actively trying to designate as second class citizens) after the jump.

Virulently anti-gay Florida House Rep. Allen West has conceded defeat in an extremely close race against 29-year-old Democrat Patrick Murphy.

Over the past two weeks early votes in the contested district have been recounted and West has conceded that he can't surmount Murphy's lead. 

See West's statement after the jump.

Australia's House of Representatives, with help from Prime Minister Julia Gillard, voted to uphold the country's ban on marriage equality by a landslide. Details follow. 

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has announced support for a marriage equality bill soon to come to the country's House of Representatives. 

Score one for our team—and in Texas no less!

Last night Mary E. Gonzalez won the Democratic primary to represent District 75 in the Texas House of Representatives. She’ll face no Republican opponent during the November election, which means Gonzalez will win the El Paso seat and become the state’s only openly LGBT lawmaker.

More after the jump!

Republican Colorado Rep. Don Coram cast the deciding vote killing civil unions on Monday in committee, preventing the bill from receiving a full House vote.

It came as quite a shock to us when Coram mentioned that he has a gay son.

His son, Dee Coram, has spoken out regarding his father's vote.

Hear what he has to say after the jump.

The Human Rights Campaign wants members of the House and Senate to go on the record with their support of same-sex marriage.

Details after the jump.

Republican House Rep. Steve King of Iowa fails to see the need for employment protections for LGBT citizens, primarily because they can hide their sexual orientation and, as such, won’t be discriminated against.

Genius!

Watch him articulate this brilliance after the jump.

Updated Wednesday at 3:37 p.m. (PST):

The Washington House of Representatives has passed the bill (55-43) in favor of marriage equality! Once signed by Gov. Christine Gregoire, Washington will become the seventh state (plus Washington, D.C.) in the U.S. to legally recognize same-sex marriage.

Details to follow...

Updated Thursday, 1:50 p.m. (PST)

Last week we reported that Washington state was a mere four votes shy of having the needed senate support for marriage equality. MyNorthwest.com recently reported that number has dropped to a mere one vote after Sen. Jim Kastama, a conservative democrat who had previously opposed same-sex marriage, announced his departure from the dark side, making him number 24 in the Senate to commit to support same-sex couples.

With the endorsement of numerous businesses, including Microsoft Corp, (we knew we loved you, Bill), as well as Gov. Chris Gregoire, we can almost hear the gay wedding bells now.

Original Story after the jump.

Let us get this right, you are wasting time and money defending discrimination because you don't want us taking the easy road to equality? God bless the GOP, testing our mettle and all. Details after the jump.