Politics and Law Archives - Page 78 of 201

Coverage of Supreme Court, DOMA, and Parental Rights Misleads

December 10, 2012

Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court announced Friday that it will review the Prop 8 case and another case challenging the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), speculation has been running amuck in the LGBT blogosphere. What does it mean? What if we lose? What do we gain if we win? As with many legal matters, especially for us non-lawyers, the issues are are complicated. A major newspaper, in fact, has just published an article that spreads a misconception about what the Supreme Court review could mean for same-sex parents.

Janice Langbehn Reflects on Washington Marriages, Her Own Activism

December 6, 2012

In 2007, Janice Langbehn and her three children were denied access to her dying partner and the children’s other mother, Lisa Pond—a tragedy that helped motivate President Obama to revise hospital visitation rules to allow same-sex partners. She also lives in Washington State—and in a new blog post, “My Missteps,” reflects on the state’s new marriage equality law and her own path to activism.

What may surprise readers is her concern that she didn’t do enough soon enough for our community—striking words from the woman who in 2011 received the Presidential Citizens Medal, the nation’s second-highest civilian honor.

Lesbian Moms First to Get Washington Marriage Licenses

December 6, 2012

Congratulations to all of the same-sex couples in Washington State who will be able to get marriage licenses starting today. In several counties (including the most populous, King County), the first to do so will be lesbian moms.

Michigan House Committee Passes Bills to Deny Children Homes

December 5, 2012

Michigan has 14,000 children in foster care at any moment, over 5,000 of whom need homes because their biological parents’ rights have been terminated. A Michigan House committee, however, has passed two bills out of committee that would allow adoption agencies to deny an adoption placement based on the agency’s moral or religious beliefs. While agencies could use that to deny placements with many people, it’s pretty clear the main targets are LGBT people.

Nevada Marriage Ruling Insults All “Non-Traditional” Families

November 30, 2012

He probably doesn’t know it’s National Adoption Month. But when U.S. District Court Judge Robert C. Jones ruled that Nevada’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples did not violate the U.S. Constitution, he insulted not only same-sex couples, but also adoptive and single-parent families.

Melissa Harris-Perry Looks at the American Family

November 27, 2012

I love me some Melissa Harris-Perry, the MSNBC host, author, and Tulane University professor. This past Saturday, I came to love her even more for the lengthy segment she did on “The American Family.” She and her guests discuss families headed by same-sex couples—but Harris-Perry smartly sees our families as only one part of a larger picture that includes single parents, adoptive parents, and other forms of family that differ from the traditional married, opposite-sex parents raising their own biological children. She also looks at how conceptions of family intersect with issues of politics, race, class, and economics—going all the way back to the days of slavery. It’s a lovely broad view and well worth watching in full.

LGBT Parenting Roundup: Post-election Edition

November 13, 2012

Here are some of the LGBT parenting stories I haven’t covered elsewhere—our families in the South, new advertising campaigns, and more.

Victories Big and Small

November 9, 2012

I think most of the LGBT community in the U.S. is celebrating the election results this week, and rightly so. As we revel in the amazing reality of four states voting the right way on marriage equality, we should nevertheless remember that these political victories are only the tip of the iceberg. They rest on the everyday victories of LGBT people and our families—the courage that we find to make ourselves visible, changing hearts and minds one person at a time. I was reminded of this by a post over at The Adventures of K & D, a lesbian couple in Florida.

A Rainbow After the Storm

November 8, 2012

We can talk about academic studies of how LGBT people are good parents—but such studies don’t replace personal stories like the one about the preschool son of Gabriel Blau and Dylan Stein, two gay dads in New York. The preschooler wanted to give the money in his piggy bank to those affected by Hurricane Sandy.

The Wind at Our Backs

November 7, 2012

What a night. A president who supports LGBT equality and the right of women to control their own bodies. The first time voters have affirmed marriage equality at the ballot box—in Maryland, Maine, and Washington—and defeated an attempt to ban it—in Minnesota. Our first openly LGBT U.S. Senator, Tammy Baldwin (D-WI). Openly gay representatives Jared Polis (D-CO) and David Cicilline (D-RI) re-elected, joined by newcomers Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) and Mark Pocan (D-WI)—a record number of out members of Congress. A record number of women in the Senate. I had dared not dream of so many wins.

And yet.