Lots of stories here I haven’t covered elsewhere, including the ramifications of some recent federal court decisions, a couple of jurisdictions reconsidering surrogacy laws, and some nice family profiles.
Politics and Law
- Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes has told judges not to process adoption applications from same-sex couples until after the resolution of Utah’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples. Only married couples may adopt in the state.
- NBC News covers the marriage equality court case going on in Michigan, which began as a case about second-parent adoption, but also looks at something I’ve been writing about for years — the fact that there is a difference between marriage rights and parental rights. The former does not guarantee the latter, but nor should the former be a requirement for the latter.
- The Louisville Courier-Journal profiles the plaintiffs in Kentucky’s marriage equality lawsuit, who include moms Tammy Boyd and Kim Franklin and dads Paul Campion and Randy Johnson.
- Kentucky has also seen its first step-parent adoption by a member of a same-sex couple, as a 28-year-old man was adopted by the stepmother who has been co-parenting him with his legal mother for 25 years. The moms had wed in Massachusetts, and a recent federal court ruling says the state must recognize legal marriages of same-sex couples from other states.
- The New York Times looks at the push to legalized compensated surrogacy contracts in New York State, benefiting gay men, among others, who want to become parents.
- In related news, Israel’s Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved an amendment to the surrogacy law that would allow same-sex couples and singles to have babies through surrogates who live in Israel. Currently, only different-sex couples may do so. The amendment is a long way from becoming law, however; some worry that it would turn poor women into “wombs for hire.”
- Two gay dads in Australia have launched the Australian Equality Party, “aimed at stopping discrimination and homophobia towards the GLBTIQ community.”
Family Profiles
- Judy Appel, executive director of Our Family Coalition, the San Francisco-area organization for LGBTQ families with children, writes at HuffPo about her life as a lesbian mom, the obstacles that LGBT-headed families still face, and the importance of personal connections in order to create greater acceptance. It’s a great piece to share with allies or potential allies.
- Holly Henry shares what life was like for her as a teen being raised by two dads, and how growing acceptance of gay and lesbian parents since that time has made a difference for her own children.
Entertainment
- Actor Bobby Steggert, who is gay, reflects on his own childhood and on playing a gay dad in the new Broadway show Mothers and Sons, from four-time Tony Award-winning playwright Terrence McNally.