Here’s your daily dose of adorable. Candice and Megan are a couple living in Utah with their baby daughter, who just radiates cuteness. In the video below, they share their feelings for each other, how they got married during the brief window for same-sex couples in Utah, and what marriage means to them as moms.
My spouse and I just sent in our first federal tax form as a married couple. It might be the happiest I’ve ever been turning in a tax form.
A federal court in Ohio on Friday announced that it will soon rule that the state’s ban on recognizing the out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples is unconstitutional — bringing immediate relief to the four married plaintiff couples seeking to ensure their children’s legal security by having both parents on their children’s birth certificates.
Grab your tissues and be ready for the tears of joy when you see these couples and their kids waiting for marriage licenses in Ann Arbor, Michigan today.
Great news to end the week: A federal judge just struck down Michigan’s ban on the marriage of same-sex couples! This was a particularly meaningful win for same-sex couples with children because the plaintiffs were two moms, April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse, who began their legal trek seeking adoption rights, adding marriage later. The judge, Bernard Friedman, was particularly harsh in his criticism of the defendants’ argument that children fare better with a married mom and dad.
This week, Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum filed a response in the federal case to determine whether same-sex couples can marry in the Beaver State. She supports equality for many reasons, but her remarks on the children-related arguments of equality opponents are particularly scathing.
MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry, who has a new baby, spoke recently with ThinkProgress about motherhood and the need for better policies for working parents. As usual, she says a lot of on-target, sensible things — but I have to amend her on one point.
A Houston lesbian couple was found murdered in Galveston, Texas on Friday morning, reports ABC affiliate KTRK-TV (via Elixher). That’s awful news in any case, but it’s made worse because one of the women has a young daughter.
Sociologist Mark Regnerus of the University of Texas at Austin testified this week in a federal case to determine whether same-sex couples can adopt and/or marry in Michigan. The bad news? He’s a thoroughly discredited researcher whose work was backed by money from religious conservatives. Or maybe that’s the good news.
Yesterday saw not one, but two major wins for fairness and equality. Arizona’s Gov. Jan Brewer (R) vetoed a bill that would have allowed businesses to refuse service or employment based on “sincerely held” religious beliefs — designed to target LGBT people, but with much wider potential impact. And a federal judge in Texas ruled that the state’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples was unconstitutional.
