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
The New Jersey Senate voted to deny marriage equality yesterday and the Perry v. Schwarzenegger Prop 8 case starts next week. Anti-equality rhetoric is ramping up in Iowa and New Hampshire as well. No matter the outcomes, there will be much in the news about the issues, including commentary from the anti-equality side. Those of
The long-running custody dispute between Janet Jenkins and her former partner Lisa Miller made headlines again this week. I’ve written an article about it for Keen News Service, trying not only to cover this week’s actions but also to put it in the context of related cases. Keen News Service is a news organization run
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
“Ex-gay” mom Lisa Miller has failed to show up at her ex-partner Janet Jenkins’ parents’ home in Falls Church, Virginia, to transfer custody of their seven-year-old daughter Isabella as ordered by a Vermont court. The couple had a civil union in Vermont before having their daughter, and although the girl was born in Virginia, the
