I hugged my son today, thinking of those who have lost theirs. It’s been one year since the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. One year — and yesterday, there was another, as a high school student in Colorado opened fire with a shotgun and incendiary devices and critically injured a fellow student.
The U.S. Department of Education announced today that it will recognize a student or a parent as legally married if they were legally married in any jurisdiction that recognizes the marriage, regardless of the gender of the spouses, where they live, or where they are attending school.
Ever get annoyed when you return to the U.S. from abroad with your same-sex sweetie and kids and have to fill out two customs forms because your family relationship wasn’t recognized? As of January, that will be no more. U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced today that it is expanding its definition of family to include same-sex couples and their children, even if the couple is not legally married or if the parent is not related by blood or adoption to the children.
Continuing the international theme from yesterday: Israeli Health Minister Yael German has accepted a committee’s recommendations to equalize surrogacy laws for same-sex and different-sex couples as well as single people.
In his remarks at Tuesday’s memorial service for former South African President Nelson Mandela, President Obama included a mention of those persecuted for “who they love.” Â LGBT rights in India just suffered a major blow, however, with its Supreme Court finding the country’s sodomy law constitutional, recriminalizing same-sex relations.
Edie Windsor, the 84-year-old whose lawsuit brought down part of the Defense of Marriage Act, thus gaining federal recognition for married same-sex couples across the country, was a runner-up for TIME magazine’s Person of the Year. She lost out in the end to Pope Francis, coming in third behind Edward Snowdon. This is nevertheless a good time to acknowledge her many ongoing accomplishments and take a peek at her new website.
Jessica and Maria are having a baby — and have made a video talking about why they want to bring a child into the world despite food shortages, overpopulation, war, and other large-scale challenges. The video is part of Unilever’s Project Sunlight, “a new initiative to inspire sustainable living.” It “invites consumers to get involved in doing small things which help their own families, others around the world and the planet.”
Nelson Mandela, the first Black president of South Africa, died today at the age of 95. His greatest legacy, of course, will be having led the country out of apartheid — but he also had a significant impact on LGBT equality.
It’s National Family Week. The President said so. And for the first time ever, he explicitly included same-sex parents in his proclamation. That’s great news — but he could do more.
Today marks 10 years of marriage equality in Massachusetts and seven years of legality (on top of 13 years of illegality) for my spouse Helen and me.
