Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the U. S. should debate same-sex marriage “with respect for every human being,” but declined to give her own views, saying it was not her area of expertise or concentration. Cop-out or good decision not to play politics by stepping into a domestic issue that, well, really isn’t in the State Department’s purview? You decide. (I’ll note, however, that it may come into her domain as other countries allow same-sex marriage. What would it do for foreign relations if one member of a married same-sex couple from another country wasn’t given hospital visitation rights while traveling in New York?)- Arkansas gets the “catch-22′” award this week. They first banned same-sex marriage, and then said same-sex couples can’t foster children because children shouldn’t be in homes “where unmarried sex occurs.” The state Supreme Court is continuing to hear arguments on whether to permit same-sex couples to foster.
- A California appellate court ruled in favor of a non-bio mom’s parental rights, and sent her case back to trial court for reconsideration. They found that a lower court’s denial of her rights was based upon precedents that predated a critical 2005 state Supreme Court decision. The ruling gave same-sex partners the same parentage rights as heterosexual ones.
- In Pennsylvania, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, although they amended it to avoid banning “marriage equivalent” relationships like civil unions and domestic partnerships. The full Senate will now vote on it. If it passes there, and is approved by the General Assembly in two consecutive sessions, it will go before voters as a ballot question.
- In foreign news, the Australian government overturned the recently enacted civil-union legislation in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). An attempt in the Senate to overturn the overturning failed.
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I am currently going through a difficult situation. I am a lesbian non-biological mother. My ex…left me became pregant and returned to the relationship only being about 3 months pregnant. The biological father doesn’t have anything to do with the child and doens’t even know the child exists.My ex and I have been split for about 2 years and she has recently married a man. This man has two young children of his own…both boys. As of right now my child has told me of molestation being done by one of her older step-brothers. I involved the police and know want to know about trying to get vistation. The child has my last name, calls me mama, and I have paperwork showing how the biological mother has tried again and again to give me some kind of rights. There have also been abuse charges filed against the biological mother…and there is no chance that I will be able to see the child with the consent of her…Help…any advice would be appreciated