Leahy pushes to extend gay rights

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) is pushing a bill to help gay individuals transfer copyrighted work to their spouses after death.  

The bill, introduced Wednesday, would clarify a section of the Copyright Act to recognize that the term “widow” applies to a surviving member of any valid marriage. 

{mosads}The change is aimed at gay couples who live in states that do not recognize gay marriage but who have a valid marriage license from one of the dozens of states that allow it. 

“It will ensure that the rights attached to the works of our nation’s gay and lesbian authors, musicians, painters, sculptors and other creators pass to their spouses the way they now do for heterosexual creators,” Leahy wrote in an op-ed in The Hollywood Reporter. “Artists are the creative lifeblood of our nation, and our laws should protect their families equally.”

He said many would be surprised to know that the “Copyright Act, which protects our nation’s diverse creative voices, bears vestiges of discrimination.”

The federal government has extended benefits to gay couples in a number of areas since the Supreme Court last year struck down a portion of the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as one between a man and a woman. 

Courts have struck down gay marriage bans in dozens of states around the country, but a number still have laws that ban gay marriage and the recognition of gay marriages performed in other states.  

Leahy said “remnants of discrimination” are still written into a number of laws, including ones governing social security and veterans affairs. 

“It is time to fix these outdated laws once and for all,” he said. 

Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.) sponsored similar legislation in the House last month. It has attracted 32 co-sponsors, including two Republicans.