Articles by Harley Dennett

The Coalition wants to ensure church-run aged care providers can deny beds to gay people. But the organisations tell Crikey they don’t discriminate — and don’t want the legal protection to do it.

Nuclear weapons and joint military bases aimed at containing our largest trading partner will, sooner or later, be put in our backyard. That’s if US Republicans get their way.

It was an ugly scene more reminiscent of the 1957 Little Rock Nine than a movement on the right side of history. Crikey goes to church to hear the anti-gay marriage sermon.

A House of Representatives committee has dodged the question of whether to pursue marriage equality after a record 276,000 responses during its inquiry.

Family and human rights lawyers are considering grounds to halt what they see as a pair of targeted attacks on the LGBTI community from the Queensland government.

The US would redeploy tactical nuclear weapons to the Asia-Pacific and ask regional allies to host nuclear weapons in plans added to the draft Pentagon budget.

Two prominent Democrats have come out in support of gay marriage, while Republican Mitt Romney is pressured to distance himself from the issue.

Parliamentary committee staff has never had more work thrust upon it than the interest generated by three bills seeking to amend the Marriage Act. Is there any hope of consensus?

Barack Obama has upped the pressure on Republicans to agree to some tax increases as part of US deficit reduction by threatening to veto any attempt to undo automatic cuts to the military.

Tea Party activists and the much younger Occupy Wall Street protesters are in furious agreement that they are not alike. But neither generation has exclusive ownership of the frustration sweeping the US.

Pentagon officials signed the death certificate for the US military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell ban on known gay, lesbian and bisexual servicemembers today with a rowdy cheer more akin to civilian political rallies than a military ceremony.

Barack Obama’s plan to ask the wealthy to pay their fair share of tax has sent Fox News into DEFCON 1.

There’s a rare and genuine sense of hope in Washington tonight since nobody shouted “You Lie!” or walked out of the Barack Obama’s much anticipated jobs speech to a joint session of Congress.

Less than 48 hours before the US government runs out of money, a tentative deal to avoid default has split both parties down the middle and a vote still has not been scheduled.

Hundreds of same-s-x couples rushed to be the first to marry in New York. But that win bears no resemblance to equality-focused gay rights moves in Australia and other advanced societies.

The White House is confident a grand deal will be reached in days to raise the US debt ceiling — giving Republicans the largest share of the spoils. It’s been said before, but this time they’re adamant.

US financial markets lifted today, possibly as it digested the new plan by Republican Senator Mitch McConnell to prevent the US from defaulting by handing over Congress’s debt ceiling power to the White House. It’s a plan B at best.

The White House debt crisis talks took a turn for the worse in the last 24 hours, as Republican Speaker John Boehner walked away from a $4 trillion spending cut called the “deal of the century”. The stunt could be catastrophic.

Barack Obama needs to pull a rabbit out of his hat quickly before the game of debt brinkmanship in Washington damages more than just his own legacy. His stance today didn’t help, Harley Dennett reports from DC.

The first major debate of the 2012 US presidential primaries took place in New Hampshire Monday night, giving each of the seven candidates a chance to rise above the widespread view that the field is a poor one.