Let’s start with some good news: The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples could become foster parents because (gasp!) there is no correlation between a child’s welfare and living with a “homosexual.” The Georgia Supreme Court began hearing arguments on reinstituting a ban on same-sex marriage. Last spring, a lower court ruled the amendment […]
In early June, the Human Rights Campaign held a town hall in Washington, D.C., for LGBT people considering parenthood. They have posted videos of the panelists’ speeches and the question-and- answer session. Topics included legal and financial issues as well as the emotional aspects of becoming parents. There are aksi downloadable PDF files with additional
A relatively slow week for pure political news, though the decisions by the Episcopalian and Presbyterian churches have political dimensions. The Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military discovered a Pentagon document of retirement and discharge policies that classifies homosexuality with mental disorders, despite mental health experts abandoning that view decades ago.
I got a laugh out of this tongue-in-cheek article by Reg Henry on banning same-sex marriage. An extract: The nuclear family is called nuclear because it is apt to detonate from time to time and when that happens everything is radioactive for a while. But, really, what is a bit of creative sulking, bickering and
Following the Episcopalians’ decision to permit LGBT bishops, the Presbyterian Church U. S. A. approved a measure allowing local churches to decide on the fitness of an individual to be ordained or serve as a lay official, even if the issue of sexual orientation arises. The measure does not, however, revoke a church law that
Clergy and lay delegates in the Episcopalian House of Deputies today rejected a proposed ban on LGBT bishops that was being urged by other churches in the worldwide Anglican Communion. This will likely kill the measure, at least for this year’s General Convention. The Episcopalians’ newly elected Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori, said yesterday she
It’s Juneteenth Day, a commemoration of the ending of slavery in the U. S. and the achievements of African Americans. The National Juneteenth Observance Foundation (NJOF) says that nineteen states, plus the District of Columbia, now recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday. At least eleven more mark it in some fashion, such as a legislative
Lots of LGBT-related church news right now. The U. S. Episcopal Church last week chose its first female leader, Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori. The move strains both the Church’s internal divisions and its relations with other members of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Most other countries’ Anglican churches do not permit women to become bishops. Many conservative
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the U. S. should debate same-sex marriage “with respect for every human being,” but declined to give her own views, saying it was not her area of expertise or concentration. Cop-out or good decision not to play politics by stepping into a domestic issue that, well, really isn’t in
A new book on same-sex marriage adds compelling evidence to the debate, while also making some controversial recommendations. Gay Marriage: For Better or For Worse? claims to be “the first of its kind to present empirical evidence about same-sex marriage.” The authors, attorneys Darren R. Spedale and William N. Eskridge, Jr., study the example of
