Blog of Rights
Ian S.
Thompson

Ian Thompson is a Legislative Representative in the ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office. In this capacity, Thompson works to advance the organization’s civil liberties and civil rights agenda in Congress and the executive branch by focusing on LGBT rights, HIV/AIDS and sex education. Prior to joining the ACLU in January 2006, Thompson interned in the Washington, D.C., office of Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio). A 2005 graduate of Penn State University, Thompson holds a degree in International Politics.

09/23/2011
HIV/AIDS

New Legislation Shines Light on the Criminalization of HIV

By Ian S. Thompson, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 4:18pm

Spit as a deadly weapon? As crazy as it sounds, in some states that is the reality that people living with HIV face.

On Friday afternoon, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) introduced legislation in Congress that will bring some much needed attention to the issue of criminalization of HIV. Rep. Lee's legislation — the REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act — would provide states with incentives and support to reform outdated criminal laws that target people living with HIV.

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09/23/2011
Respect for Marriage Act

Effort to Repeal DOMA in Congress Gains Bipartisan Support

By Ian S. Thompson, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 2:43pm

Early on Friday morning, it was announced that the legislative effort in Congress to repeal the discriminatory and unconstitutional Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is now a bipartisan affair.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) became the first Republican cosponsor of the Respect for Marriage Act (H.R. 1116/S. 598), legislation pending in both the House and Senate that would repeal DOMA in its entirety, as well as provide all married couples certainty that regardless of where they travel or move in the country, they will not be treated as strangers under federal law.

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09/22/2011
Housing Discrimination

Sen. Kerry and Rep. Nadler Introduce Housing Non-Discrimination Legislation

By Ian S. Thompson, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 11:33am

This morning, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) introduced the Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME) Act in the Senate and House. This legislation would, among other things, amend both the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in housing and credit. It would help to expand the numbers of Americans who have equal access to credit, home lending, the home rental market, and the home sales market.

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09/20/2011
DADT

The Demise of DADT

By Ian S. Thompson, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 2:46pm

Today marks the official end of the discriminatory policy known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." For nearly 18 years, DADT forced lesbian, gay and bisexual service members to painstakingly hide their true selves, as well as their partners and spouses, or else face the possibility of having their military career brought to an abrupt end.

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09/08/2011
SNDA

Hey NFL: Where Are the "It Gets Better" Videos?

By Ian S. Thompson, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 1:42pm

Like football fans around the country, I'm anxiously awaiting the official start of the 2011 NFL season and another exciting Super Bowl run for my favorite team — Here We Go Steelers!

In addition to the start of a new football season, fall marks the return of millions of students to schools across the country. Sadly, one group of students in particular, those who are or are thought to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT), remain uniquely vulnerable to discrimination, harassment and abuse in public schools across the country. While numerous professional baseball teams and individual athletes have stepped up to deliver video messages of hope and support to these young people through the It Gets Better Project, it remains to be seen which NFL team will be the first to produce an It Gets Better video.

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08/19/2011

Potential Relief for Same-Sex Couples Facing the Threat of Deportation

By Ian S. Thompson, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 5:11pm

Over the past several months, there has been a steady drum beat of devastating news stories involving same-sex, binational couples facing the threat of deportation, including the recent example of a gay California couple in which one partner, the primary caregiver of his spouse who is living with AIDS, was facing the risk of having to leave the country (and his spouse and partner of nearly two decades). For couples facing this dilemma some measure of relief may soon be in sight.

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08/15/2011
Defense of Marriage Act

NOM Marriage Pledge: A Discriminatory, Tone-Deaf Pitfall

By Ian S. Thompson, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 5:45pm

The anti-gay National Organization for Marriage (NOM) has been asking presidential hopefuls to sign a pledge stating, among other things, that they would:

support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution barring recognition of marriages involving same-sex couples;

•    defend the discriminatory and unconstitutional Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) against federal court challenges;
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08/12/2011
Respect for Marriage Act

The Congressional Evolution on DOMA

By Ian S. Thompson, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 11:19am

There is an intriguing story behind the recent Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) headlines, one that mirrors trends in public opinion surveys, but involves a group you might not expect — members of Congress who voted for the law in 1996, but now favor its repeal.

Back in July, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a landmark hearing on DOMA, exploring how it impacts married gay and lesbian couples and their families across the country. The hearing got me thinking about the now infamous '96 congressional vote in favor of DOMA. Defenders of the law, exemplified by Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) at the July hearing, often like to tout the original congressional vote totals in support of DOMA (342 in the House and 85 in the Senate) as the end of the story. In essence, they say, why change a law that garnered so many bipartisan votes when it was passed?

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07/28/2011
HIV/AIDS

Blood Donation Ban for Gay and Bisexual Men Under Review by HHS

By Ian S. Thompson, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 6:54am

Late last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) provided an important status update about ongoing research studies examining the lifetime ban on blood donations from men who have ever had sex with other men since 1977.

Gay and bisexual men, intravenous drug users, people who have had sex for money and people who have tested positive for HIV disease are currently the only groups of people banned from donating blood. Gay and bisexual men are excluded regardless of their individual sexual histories or HIV risk. Despite the lifetime ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men, other individuals who are also at increased risk for HIV disease, including people who have heterosexual sex with someone who they know to be living with HIV or people who have had sex with a commercial sex worker, are prevented from donating blood for only one year.

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07/22/2011

A Remarkable Week for LGBT Rights in Washington, D.C.

By Ian S. Thompson, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 4:30pm

Most of the news coming out of Washington, DC this week has been all about debt ceilings, sweltering triple-digit temperatures and “heat domes.” However, there’s another important reason to take note of the week that was, as it was one of the most important weeks for LGBT rights in our nation’s capital in recent memory. 

On the eve of a landmark hearing in the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on the discriminatory and unconstitutional Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the White House on Tuesday afternoon formally endorsed the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal DOMA in its entirety. Additionally, it would provide all married couples certainty that regardless of where they travel or move in the country, they will not be treated as strangers under federal law.

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