BY LISA KEEN / Keen News Service

UTAH ARGUMENTS TODAY:

The Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments at 10 a.m. MDT in Herbert v. Kitchen, a case challenging Utah’s ban on same-sex couples marrying. The court will have an audio recording of the one-hour proceeding available on its website an hour or two after adjournment. See full story.

INDIANA CASE GETS HEARING:

A federal judge in Indiana will hear arguments today on a motion by Lambda Legal to secure a temporary restraining order that would require the state to give recognition to the out-of-state marriage of one of their plaintiff couples because one of the women has late stage ovarian cancer. Lambda represents several couples in Baskin v. Bogan, challenging the state’s ban on same-sex couples marrying.

POLITICO DINGS ELDRIDGE:

Openly gay first-time Congressional candidate Sean Eldridge got mixed reviews in a politico.com profile Wednesday. Eldridge, 27, is running for the U.S. House seat representing New York’s Hudson Valley. The article focuses largely on Eldridge’s use of the wealth his husband, Chris Hughes, amassed as a co-founder of Facebook co-founder. And it contrasts Eldridge’s resources to incumbent Chris Gibson, “a 49-year-old decorated war veteran and former college professor who lives in the same middle-class neighborhood where he grew up.” Politico quotes Gibson as saying Eldridge “married well….But there are some things money can’t buy.” The article does not delve into the source of Gibson’s 2012 campaign funding: largely Republican committees and finance, insurance, and investment interests.

HRC SIDES AGAINST GAY CANDIDATE:

The Human Rights Campaign announced Wednesday it would endorse Democrat incumbent U.S. Rep. Scott Peters of San Diego over openly gay Republican challenger Carl DeMaio (pictured). DeMaio’s campaign was unfazed. “Is this really a surprise?” said Dave McCulloch, spokesperson for Carl DeMaio for Congress. “This same group of partisan Democrat activists supported Bob Filner in 2012 over Carl and it was expected that they would once again support a partisan politician like Scott Peters from their own party.”

LAMBDA KEEPS THE COUNT:

Lambda Legal on Wednesday unveiled a “live” chart that keeps track of the “current status of marriage equality litigation nationwide.” The chart, thus far, counts 64 pending lawsuits –43 in federal court and 21 in state court. Of the 43 in federal court, nine are at the appeals court level. The lawsuits are spread out over 30 states and Puerto Rico. Only five states have neither a lawsuit nor marriage equality: Alaska, Georgia, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota.”

MAKE THAT 65 LAWSUITS:

Lambda Legal’s new ambitious chart fell behind the same day it was unveiled, as the ACLU filed a second marriage lawsuit in North Carolina. Gerber v. Cooper, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina asks the court to order the state to recognize the out-of-state marriage licenses obtained by three plaintiff couples. In all three couples, one spouse has a life-threatening illness. One couple includes 89-year-old Pearl Berlin and 77-year-old Ellen Gerber who have been together for 47 years.

HUCKABEE: ‘NOT HOMOPHOBIC’ BUT…

Former, and possibly future, Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee told a conservative audience in Iowa Tuesday, "I'm not against anybody. I'm really not. I’m not a hater. I’m not homophobic.” But he made clear he does not support the right of same-sex couples to marry. Video excerpts of Huckabee’s speech to the Iowa Faith and Family Forum were posted by CNN.

BILL RUSSELL REMEMBERS:

Basketball legend Bill Russell, speaking at Wednesday’s Civil Rights Summit in Austin, Texas: “It seems to me, a lot of questions about gay athletes, were the same questions they used to ask about us.”