You’ve heard the story before (and before that). A lesbian couple splits up. The biological mother tries to deny custody to the non-biological mother. They go to court. (In the case of Janet Jenkins and Lisa Miller, they did so for years, with disastrous results when the bio mom flouted court orders and went into […]
The Prop 8 Case Everyone is covering the Prop 8 case. Here are a few of the sites with people on the ground at the courtroom. (As you may have heard, the U.S. Supreme Court banned videocasting of the trial. Jenny Pizer, Lambda Legal’s Marriage Project director, explains why.)j Lisa Keen has a good summary
There’s funny in the Prop 8 trial, too. From the Mercury News: Defense lawyer Nicole Moss asked plaintiffs’ expert Letitia Peplau, a UCLA professor, whether gay couples could “accidentally” have children out of wedlock. She replied, “If your question is whether two lesbians can, accidentally, spontaneously, impregnate each other, not to my knowledge.”
His colleague Ted Olson got the parenting quote the other day. Now it’s David Boies’ turn, in an interview he and Olson did with Rachel Maddow (my bold): There are three basic points that we want to make. One is that marriage is a fundamental right. Nobody can really disagree with that. The second is
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.
During the Prop 8 trial in California yesterday, plaintiff Paul Katami, a fitness manager, was asked why he didn’t think domestic partnerships were good enough. He replied with a metaphor of putting a Twinkie at the end of a treadmill and giving the person on the treadmill just one bite, reports Lisa Keen. “I want
Attorney Ted Olson gave the plaintiffs’ opening statement in the Prop 8 trial yesterday. He said some spot-on things about same-sex couples and parenting (my bold): Proposition 8 has no rational relation to the parenting of children because same-sex couples and opposite sex couples are equally permitted to have and raise children in California. The
Kris Perry is the titular plaintiff in the Perry v. Schwarzenegger case challenging the constitutionality of Prop 8. She and her partner Sandy Stier have four boys. Perry told journalist Karen Ocamb recently: Sandy and I have both been active members of PTA and sit on education fundraising boards. We go to our kids’ athletic
The big Perry v. Schwarzenegger trial, aka the Prop 8 trial, begins today in California. My piece looking at some of the items the defense might use to justify Prop 8 is up at Keen News Service. If you want a refresher on what the case is all about, Lisa Keen’s latest article is a
Amanda Simpson started work as as Senior Technical Advisor in the Bureau of Industry and Security, becoming one of the first transgender people to receive a presidential appointment to an executive branch post. Dylan Orr, who began work in December as Special Assistant to Assistant Secretary of Labor Kathleen Martinez, was the first. California Assemblyman
