Weekly Political Roundup

The U. S. Supreme Court refused without comment to hear the custody case of a separated lesbian couple from California. The bio mom is trying to deny second-parent adoption of their younger child to the non-bio mom, although the non-bio mom has adopted the couple’s older child. This is the second lesbian-custody case the Court has refused to hear in as many weeks. Given the current Court, it may be a good thing they’re not ruling on this. I’m not a lawyer, though, so I can’t comment on the long-term effects of their hands-off stance. Anyone?
$200 million. That’s the amount of money it has cost to recruit and train replacements for the 9,488 troops discharged under the military’s twelve-year-old “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. This doesn’t include those who were booted out under the prior “if you’re gay, you’re out” rule. This data comes not from some LGBT think-tank, but rather from the Government Accountability Office. Your tax dollars at work, folks.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has said he will veto a bill requiring public schools to include LGBT history in their curricula. The bill has passed the state Senate and awaits a vote in the Legislature. Some say Schwarzenegger’s move is pure electioneering, since he rarely comments on bills before they pass the Legislature.
Same-sex marriage supporters in Denver failed to halt a proposed ballot initiative banning domestic partnerships. They claim the ballot’s wording, which prohibits state recognition of a legal status “similar to that of marriage,” is too vague. Voters might not realize how it could apply even to some opposite-sex relationships. (Things like this could happen.) Same-sex marriage proponents are appealing to the Colorado Supreme Court.
We won a major victory in Oklahoma, where judges struck down a ruling that would have denied recognition to same-sex adoptive parents even if the adoption was done legally in another state.
Finally, an international note, contributed by one of my readers: Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has warned fellow Conservative MPs not to comment on the marriage next month of two gay Mounties. Opponents see this as part of the Conservative’s long-standing focus on message control. An opposition MP notes, however, that message control could have as easily taken the form of a congratulatory message to these dedicated public servants who are about to marry.