One of the areas of practice where many women are pushing for change is in the roles congregants perform in religious services, especially reading from the Torah and leading services. Howard noted last month some new developments in this dance, and according to the latest Jewish Week the trend is gaining momentum. (Which is the occasion for this new post on the topic.)
Halacha is a combination of statuatory law (the 613 mitzvot) and common law (their interpretations by authorities over the generations, expressed in Talmudic and later rulings to the present day).
Orthodox Judaism defines itself as considering all halacha binding upon the entire Jewish community, although variations among different Orthodox groups exist. All Orthodox congregations (with the exceptions noted here) mandate different roles for women and men. A few may be accepting of gays in a "don't ask, don't tell" kind of way. The Conservative movement officially holds halacha as binding (although most congregants are more lax) but allows equal roles for men and women by interpreting it in a certain way. The Reform movement simply doesn't view halacha as binding.
The main point of divergence between the Reform and Conservative movements lies in their interpretation of Halacha. For the latter, Halacha is still the framework in which changes must be ongoing. For the former, who already two centuries ago introduced substantial innovations in the liturgy, halacha is a point of reference, from which one chooses one's obligations in accordance with one's perceptions of ethics.The Reconstructionist movement views halacha as the accumulated wisdom of our ancestors and it is therefore crucial to understand it to develop one's Jewish practice, but each Jew must individually decide - through study and reflection - what is binding and what is not (i.e. a post-modern view that strives to integrate the wisdom of the past and the present, with an emphasis on individuality).
So at this time most congregations affiliated with the Conservative movement are fully egalitarian, and some very welcoming to gays (although the movement itself is still figuring out its official position). All Reform and Reconstructionist congregations are fully egalitarian and officially fully inclusive of gays.
(And if anyone ever asks you what are the differences among Jewish denominations, that's it in a nutshell. For now.)
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