It’s important to keep things in perspective. Much as we rightly criticize the U.S. for its less-than ideal policies towards parents and children, especially LGBT ones, we generally do all right here in the developed world. The humanitarian organization Save the Children today released its eighth annual Mothers’ Index, ranking the best and worst places […]
If you are still searching for the perfect Mother’s or Father’s Day gift for your partner or your own parents, you need look no further than Courting Equality: A Documentary History of America’s First Legal Same-Sex Marriages. It is a glossy, large-format work, but to call it a coffee-table book is to do it an
I was driving home from Boston the other day, reflecting that if I got hit by the semi in the next lane, at least I had a legal spouse who would be able to visit me in the hospital. I began then to ponder the advances in same-sex relationship recognition over the last several weeks.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007 (LLEHCPA), aka the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act. The Senate must now vote on the measure, although the White House has already threatened a veto. Pam’s House Blend has fuller coverage and a breakdown of the vote. The U.S.
The U.S. House of Representatives this afternoon passed the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007 (LLEHCPA), aka the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act. This is a major step towards enacting the legislation that will include protections against hate crimes on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, among other categories. It
We are closer than we’ve ever been to the passage of a federal hate-crimes act that includes sexual orientation and gender identity among its protected categories. The U.S. House of Representatives will vote on the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007 (LLEHCPA) this Thursday. LGBT-rights organizations are urging all supportive Americans to
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected without comment an appeal by Lisa Miller-Jenkins, a biological mother who has been trying to deny visitation rights to her former partner Janet Miller-Jenkins. (Thanks, PageOneQ.) The case has bounced between the jurisdictions of Vermont and Virginia. Lisa Miller-Jenkins was attempting to appeal a Vermont Supreme Court ruling that the
Lots of good news this week: The U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee passed the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which includes protections crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and sent it to the floor of the House. An Indiana high school teacher who risked her job supporting a student-newspaper editorial
Two recent pieces of legislation in Washington State show once again the interconnectedness between family rights and LGBT rights, a topic I have covered before. Governor Christine Gregoire last weekend signed domestic-partner legislation that will allow same-sex couples to receive a variety of rights over inheritance, hospital visitation, and medical decisions. The Washington State Senate
Most readers of this blog can reel off any number of reasons why same-sex couples should have the same legal rights, protections, and responsibilities as opposite-sex ones. It’s still gratifying, however, to see someone put together the arguments in a pithy, witty, no-holds-barred article in the mainstream press. Hop on over to New Hampshire’s Manchester
