Morning Sweep

Sorry for our absence...we've been recovering from the 2009 Fall Dinner! We'll recap the event in an upcoming post. Now, on to the news:

Gov. Paterson has stated that he wants to bring the NY Senate back for a special session on November 10, and he has promised to put marriage on the agenda for this session.

The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act passed the U.S. Senate on Thursday and is set to be signed into law by President Obama tomorrow. Read the Pride Agenda's statement on the bill passing here.

A panel of justices in New York County's Supreme Court ruled last week that a transgender person seeking judicial permission for a name change should not be required to furnish medical documentation supporting the change.

At a town hall meeting at the LGBT Community Center in NYC on Sunday, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand spoke on many issues important to the community, including same-sex marriage, DADT, ENDA, immigration reform and gay persecution in Iraq.

The New York Times writes more on the U.S. district court's refusal to grant a request by backers of the Prop. 8 campaign to dismiss the federal lawsuit against the ban.

Supporters of marriage for same-sex couples in Maine have raised more money than their opponents, but polls are still predicting close results on the Nov. 3 referendum.

More than 250 people will testify for and against marriage equality in D.C. Council hearings.

The federal Housing and Urban Development Department has announced that it is developing regulations to ensure that LGBT people aren't denied access to federally subsidized housing based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The HUD will also commission a first-ever nationwide study to determine the extent of anti-LGBT discrimination in housing sales and rental programs.