The picture here shows a delicious chocolate cake. Here’s the recipe—the recipe is about the cake. The case being heard at the U.S. Supreme Court today, however, despite having cake in its name, is not really about the cake, but about our civil rights.
I’m thinking about courts this week, as a few recent court cases have involved same-sex parents and our right to be recognized as parents, as well as the right of same-sex couples (with or without kids) to gain the benefits of marriage. Luckily, things seem to be (mostly) in our favor.
In one of my son’s favorite video games, an artificial intelligence system promises the player cake if she completes various challenges. As the player proceeds through the game, however, she finds graffiti claiming “The cake is a lie,” and it becomes clear that the AI is stringing her along with malicious intent. The Trump administration has similarly revealed the lie of its promised friendship—its “cake”—to the LGBTQ community. (Remember the image of then-candidate Trump holding a rainbow flag at a rally almost exactly a year ago?) Fittingly, the latest confirmation of the administration’s true intent revolves around actual cake.
Yesterday’s election saw big wins for queer candidates—including several who are also parents, and in two cases, grandparents.
A new documentary follows three lesbian families as they fight for equality in Alabama. Watch a trailer and learn more about the still-ongoing struggle for relationship and parenting equality in this state.
I’m very pleased to bring you a guest piece by Patience Crozier, an attorney with GLAD who was co-counsel in a key case about the rights of nonbiological moms. She not only discusses the case, but also shares some key points that unmarried same-sex parents or prospective parents should know about securing ties to their children.
Continuing my series of posts for LGBTQ History Month, here’s a look back at 1997, when a two-dad couple in New Jersey made history with a joint adoption that forced a change in state law.
Courts in Missouri and New York affirmed this week that nonbiological parents should be recognized as parents under the law—nice victories, but also a reminder that we need to apply this in our own lives, even in cases of divorce or separation.
NPR’s All Things Considered today aired a segment on second-parent adoption that you should go listen to right now if you’re not sure whether to do one, if you’re going to do one, or even if you’ve done one.
It’s no secret to most readers here that so-called “religious freedom” laws on adoption and foster care in several states are nothing more than permission to discriminate—often against LGBTQ prospective parents and LGBTQ youth, among others. The ultimate effect is that child welfare agencies are allowed to act in ways contrary to the best interests of the children in their care. When a leading LGBTQ equality think tank tried to place a 30-second ad about this on Fox News, however, the network refused to air it.
