Court Cases The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today to uphold a lower-court ruling and demand the Louisiana Registrar of Vital Statistics respect a New York adoption by a same-sex couple of a Louisiana-born baby boy. Lambda Legal represented gay dads Oren Adar and Mickey Ray Smith in their quest to have Louisiana issue […]
Let us first take a moment to remember Lawrence King, the eighth grader who was shot and killed two years ago today by another student whom he asked to be his Valentine. Politics and Law The Florida Department of Children and Families agreed to provide state Medicaid insurance, subsidized college tuition, and other benefits to
Schools and Youth The Tennessee General Assembly’s House Education subcommittee referred to another subcommittee two bills that would ban the teaching of any sexuality other than heterosexuality. That means the bills’ fate is uncertain, although the head of the Tennessee Equality Project said he would have preferred a vote to defeat them. Don’t Ask, Don’t
Parenting Studies “How Does the Gender of Parents Matter?” asks the lead article in this month’s Journal of Marriage and Family. The answer, from sociologists Timothy Biblarz of University of Southern California and Judith Stacey of New York University, is that it doesn’t, with the “partial exception of lactation.” The gender of parents “has minor
Here are a few stories I haven’t covered in separate posts: Politics and Law A committee appointed by the Bombay High Court has created draft guidelines for the adoption of Indian children by foreign nationals. Under the guidelines, which are not yet final, single parents would be able to adopt, but not a same-sex couple.
Politics and Law The government of New South Wales, Australia, has refused to change the law and allow same-sex couples to adopt, despite a six-month parliamentary inquiry that found doing so would be in the best interests of children. It says the issue is “too complex and sensitive” and there is not enough community support.
Personal Stories The Iowa Press-Citizen profiles Iowans Dawn and Jen BarbouRoske, who talk about their 19-year relationship, their new legal marriage, and their children. Both the women and their two children—at the children’s urging—were plaintiffs in the case that won marriage equality in the state. The article gives us our Quote of the Week: More
Politics and Law A must-read this week is Jacob M. Appel’s piece on the growing “sperm donors’ rights movement,” in which donors are trying to assert their claims to parenthood. New Mexico’s new parentage laws go into effect on January 1, Nancy Polikoff reminds us. The Really Quite Wonderful new law states: “a person who…consents
First, congratulations to lesbian mom Annise Parker, who won election as mayor of Houston, Texas, the country’s fourth largest city. She is the first openly gay or lesbian mayor of any of the country’s 10 largest cities. Schools and Youth The Oklahoma City School District voted to amend the district’s bullying and harassment policy to
Just to mix things up, let’s start with some news from the Commonwealth of Nations: Celia Hannon of the U.K.’s Guardian weighs in on the debate about the merits of lesbian parents vs. straight parents. Her take on the matter is similar to mine, which is that the whole debate about which sexual orientation makes
