If you’ve seen any news coverage in the past 24 hours, you’ve probably heard that the Massachusetts Legislature voted to advance a measure that would amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage. If the Legislature passes the measure again in its next session, it will go onto the 2008 ballot. Major media outlets like
My partner, parents, and I are sitting here howling with laughter as we listen to an online stream of the Capitol Steps New Year’s Eve 2006 concert, Politics Takes a Holiday. The Steps do brilliant political satire. They began as a group of U. S. Senate staffers, but have expanded to include professional musicians as
Happy New Year, everyone! I thought I’d start the year off by listing a few things related to lesbian families we can expect in 2007: The ongoing fight for true marriage equality in New Jersey. A California Supreme Court ruling on the legality of banning same-sex marriage. The New Hampshire Legislature consideration of same-sex relationship
One final reminder that submissions for the January Carnival of Bent Attractions are due by January 1, 2007. I will showcase carnival entries here at Mombian on January 10. This blog carnival is published monthly and is made up of submitted posts on topics of interest to the gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, trans and queer communities—not
The week is chock full of news: Former U. S. President Gerald Ford died this week. Both Pam at Pandagon and Planet Out document Ford’s support for lesbian and gay rights, including marriage equality. As expected, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin vetoed a bill that would have prevented the state from giving benefits to the partners
William Saletan of Slate, in his article Lesbians of Mass Destruction, uses Mary Cheney as a jumping-off point to argue the suitability of same-sex parents. (This will be, I suspect, Mary’s ongoing role, intentional or not, in the same-sex parenting debate.) Saletan nails some points like: If the direct evidence [against same-sex parents] doesn’t bear
As a writer, I think a lot about language, doubly so because I am also a lesbian mom at a time of raging debate over the terms used to define my family and our rights. Rather than do a traditional recap of news from 2006 to wrap up the year, therefore, I want to share
Two items of news today caught my eye: Pope Benedict XVI referred to arguments for recognition of same-sex relationships as “dismal theories.” The New York Blade recapped a UCLA study (cited in my Weekly Political Roundup last week) claiming “New Jersey florists, caterers, hotels and other businesses would bring in more than $100 million in
No pre-Christmas slowdown in LGBT news: Alaska governor Sarah Palin will comply with a state Supreme Court order to offer health and retiree benefits to same-sex partners of state employees. At the same time, “she supports denying those benefits through a constitutional amendment, if that’s what the public wants,” and signed a bill calling for
The U. S. Department of Labor (DOL) has published a “request for information from the public” on the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). It “invites interested parties having knowledge of, or experience with, the FMLA to submit comments and welcomes any pertinent information that will provide a basis for ascertaining the effectiveness of the
