If you plan to vote for Mitt Romney, you are putting a nail into my civil rights coffin, and I'd rather not have friends who think I deserve anything less than equal treatment under the law.

We pride ourselves on knowing all kinds of Sapphic pop-culture facts. Each week we share some of the best tidbits on The Huffington Post in our series "Best Lesbian Week Ever." Here's who and what was on our raging gay radar this week.

The Second Circuit was not the first appeals court to strike down DOMA. The First Circuit Court of Appeals found DOMA unconstitutional in May. But the difference between the two legal opinions may mark the beginning of a legal shift that holds extraordinary promise for the LGBT community.

The Second Circuit has just issued its opinion in Windsor v. USA, striking down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as unconstitutional. Section 3 of DOMA limits federal recognition of marriage only to opposite-sex marriages.

Congress did their part with the Repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, but the Department of Defense has no intention of protecting their employees. It may take another act of congress to get them to change their mind.

If the DOMA is struck down, the High Court's decision will certainly provide precedential effect in resolving future disputes involving equal rights for same sex couples.

After 16 years it's clear that the only thing the Defense of Marriage Act defends is institutionalized bigotry. The letter we received from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, solidifies that fact. It was all there in black and white.

Even if your state recognizes gay marriage, your secrets aren't safe. You can't keep your partner's secrets in a court of law. That sounds like second-class citizenship to me.

There is an empty chair in my living room every night when I get home from work. Her empty chair. And in spite of the grief and loss it represents, it trumps Clint Eastwood's empty chair, because I am, in point of fact, so much better off in so many ways than I was four years ago.

By Ronnie Cohen SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 28 (Reuters) - The Obama administration has directed immigration officials to recognize same-sex ...

With momentum for marriage equality rolling ahead and acceptance of LGBT issues at an all-time high in polls, it can sometimes be easy to forget just how pervasive institutional discrimination against LGBT people can be. And then you get a letter in the mail reminding you of just that.

From their very first day back on the job, the justices will begin considering what is surely the largest number of LGBT equality cases that they have ever faced in a single term. These cases have the potential to become watershed moments in the history of the LGBT movement.

A new term is about to begin at the U.S. Supreme Court, and it could be a blockbuster one for lesbian and gay rights. We eagerly await word on whether the Court will consider one or more of several cases currently presented to them for review that involve the rights of same-sex couples.

Wednesday night's LGBT Marriage Forum in New York City was an event organized by an alliance of wedding professionals to equip the LGBT community with tangible information about planning not just a wedding but a lasting marriage. Here are a few highlights shared at the event.

One of the favored talking points that conservatives like to direct at the LGBT community is that "Obama is just pandering for your votes with his support of marriage equality." But a look beyond that rhetoric, going deep into the record, tells a vastly different story.