News from here and there about parents, kids, and schools:
- Attorneys representing Brandon McInerney, the 15-year old accused of killing openly gay teen Larry King (who identified as Letitia King in the weeks before the murder) are asking an appeals court to order prosecutors to show how they determined McInerney should be tried as an adult.
- A new ad campaign, cosponsored by the Human Rights Campaign, the California Department of Social Services, and Los Angeles County Adoption Services, is encouraging gay couples in Los Angeles County to adopt. The campaign launched with a billboard ad in West Hollywood. (I guess Bette and Tina’s adoption issues on The L Word may not be the best publicity.)
- The Delaware Supreme Court ruled against a lesbian mom fighting for custody rights to the child she and her partner were raising together. Lacey Smith and Charlene Gordon (pseudonyms) adopted the child from Kazakhstan, but only one could legally adopt. Smith did so. Even though Gordon took adoption leave and covered the child under her employee benefits, the court reversed a lower court ruling and said she could not have joint custody. Delaware here follows Maryland in rejecting a de facto parent doctrine. The District of Columbia, however, recognizes de facto parents by statute. As Nancy Polikoff points out, had the couple lived in DC, Gordon would have had an equal right to custody and an equal obligation to pay child support. What was that about best interests of the children? Nancy has more on the case. Worth a read.
- Two students at Yulee High School in Florida sued their school board because they were not allowed to form a gay-straight alliance club. The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida filed the suit in federal court on behalf of the students. The ACLU recently won a similar case in Okeechobee, Florida.
- Missouri State Rep. Jeanette Mott Oxford (D) is an out lesbian. House Democratic leadership submitted her name as one of five appointees to the the Children and Families Committee. House Speaker Ron Richard (R), however, removed her from the Children and Families Committee. Jeff Brooks, his chief of staff, allegedly explained, “some of our members find her highly offensive.” The Republicans deny that her sexual orientation had anything to do with the decision. House Minority Leader Paul LeVota (D) named her the party’s ranking member of the committee anyway.
- A survey of 600 students in Wales during a workshop aimed at tackling homophobic bullying found that 79 percent thought their school was not safe for LGBT people to be out. Sixty-six percent felt it wasn’t safe for straight students to support their LGBT friends, and 56 percent felt it wasn’t safe for teachers and staff to be openly gay. The new LGBT Excellence Centre Wales ran the workshop and plans to do more to address homophobia in schools.
- Not LGBT news per se, but important news for many families: Congress and the president expanded the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to include about 4 million more children. President Obama also issued a memo lifting some Bush Administration enrollment rules that had made it difficult for states to use SCHIP for children whose families made more than 250% of the federal poverty level (about $50,000 a year for a family of four).
This post also serves as my entry for “Something New,” the second day of Robin’s Some/Thing blog carnival celebrating Freedom to Marry Week.