Here are a few items I haven’t mentioned elsewhere, including a blended family profile, the perspective of the teen daughter of plaintiffs in a marriage equality lawsuit, two happenings in New Zealand, and the Argentinian president honoring a lesbian couple at their child’s Roman Catholic baptism.
- Elixher interviewed Atlanta moms Onyx Keesha and Noble Julz and spoke with them about their blended family. Each has a biological child from a previous relationship, and they have an adopted child as well. Onyx explained:
We have a village. We have a very non-traditional family. It’s in layers. Julz and I, we are — I hate to say — the primary parents [to] our three kids: Semaya (15), Joesph (12), Kaia-Simone (6). However, their other parents are very much a part of our family. My ex-husband, who is my son’s father, is very much a part of our life on a daily basis. My ex-wife, Nikk, is very much a part of our life as well as their girlfriends. When people see our village, they are like, “What is this? Is this some kind of poly thing?” No. It’s not at all. But collectively we all raise the kids and we all raise the kids in the same house.
Read more about how they came together and stay together as a family, as well as their advice for other same-sex couples hoping to parent or co-parent.
- Emily Schall-Townley, the 16-year-old daughter of the case challenging Virginia’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples, spoke with the Washington Blade about her family, the case, and the reactions of their community and friends.
- On a somber note, a federal court has ordered Indiana to recognize immediately the marriage of lesbian moms Amy Sandler and Niki Quasney. The couple, who have two children, were married in Massachusetts in 2013. They need their home state of Indiana to recognize their marriage because Quasney is fighting stage four ovarian cancer and she wants to make sure Sandler will receive an accurate death certificate to take care of their affairs and “access the safety net available to a surviving spouse and young children.”
- I mentioned this in my last roundup, but the state of Utah has asked the state Supreme Court to stop all adoptions by same-sex couples in the state, and to deny orders from judges who have already approved such adoptions filed during the brief window when same-sex couples could marry there. Utah’s Fox13 News shares the story of Kimberly and Amber Leary, whose adoption of their daughter is now on hold.
- Valeria Tanco and Sophy Jesty, plaintiffs in the case challenging the marriage ban in Tennessee, are now the first same-sex couple in the state to have both of their names on their child’s birth certificate, LGBTQ Nation reports. Their daughter was born just after a federal district court ruled that the state must recognize marriages of same-sex couples enacted in other states.
- In New Zealand, a special bill has allowed the daughter of two moms to put her late biological mother’s name back on her birth certificate. It had been removed when her non-biological mother adopted her after her biological mother died. (There is no second-parent adoption in the country.)
- Also in New Zealand, the visiting Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s son Prince George had a playdate with babies from a number of families, including one with gay dads.
- Despite the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the U.S. military still does not recognize marriages of same-sex couples, and the couples still face restrictions when posted to countries that do not allow them to have the same benefits as in the U.S., the International Business Times reported. It gave the example of U.S. Navy Counselor 1st Class Luz Bautista and her fiancee, U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Alejandra Schwartz, who have one child and are expecting another.
- Argentine President Cristina Fernandez agreed to be the godmother of a lesbian couple’s baby, with a deputy attending the child’s Roman Catholic baptism in her stead. Normally, the president may be asked to be godparent to a couple’s seventh child. She made an exception for the first child of this couple.
