“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” may be gone, but the inequalities linger for married and partnered servicemembers, including those with children. Several of these families are telling their stories through letters they have written to Congress, as part of a new campaign from the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) and OutServe.
Spring Valley Hospital in Clark County, Nevada, has denied a lesbian the right to make medical decisions for her pregnant domestic partner. When Brittney Leon and Terri-Ann Simonelli went to the hospital in July after Leon began experiencing complications with her pregnancy, an admissions officer told them that Simonelli could not make medical decisions for Leon without a power of attorney—despite the fact that they are legal domestic partners in the state, which should give them the same rights as married couples to make medical decisions for each other. Leon ended up losing the pregnancy.
Quick: Name all of the Latin American countries that allow same-sex couples to adopt. Can’t do it? Neither could I, before I read this Washington Post article (Answer: Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Uruguay.) WaPo centers the article around the story of Columbian lesbian moms Ana Leiderman and Veronica Botero, who have brought a lawsuit arguing for Botero’s rights as a nonbiological mother.
I was sickened by the news of the shooting this past weekend at a Sikh temple, or gurdwara, near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Few things scare me more than random shootings that occur in what are supposed to be places of safety, such as schools and houses of worship. There is little that can help us make sense of what are senseless acts—but one article that has helped me think about how to move forward is “Today, we are all American Sikhs” by Valarie Kaur at CNN.
Maya Wiener Berkowitz and her brother grew up in Minnesota with their two moms. Now, she is speaking out against a ballot measure in Minnesota that would make marriage for same-sex couples like her moms unconstitutional.
Lesbian moms Charlie and Karen Morgan talk in this video about the impact of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) on their family. Charlie is a Chief Warrant Officer 2 in the New Hampshire National Guard and has terminal breast cancer. The couple are among the plantiffs in a case challenging DOMA.
Thanks to the leadership of the Family Equality Council, federal employees may now extend medical coverage to children who are legally those of their same-sex domestic partner. Domestic partnership requires a simple declaration; it is not necessary to live where there is a formal DP registry or other formal relationship recognition.
Florida Lt. Governor Jennifer Carroll responded to accusations that she had an affair with a female aide by stating, “Usually black women that look like me don’t engage in relationships like that.” Responses from the LGBT community have been both strong and clever.
A new report details the inequalities children of LGBT parents face under state laws—laws that govern much related to family life, including parentage orders, fostering, adoption, donor insemination, surrogacy, custody, and inheritance.
A lesbian Super PAC? Sounds like a flannel-wrapped emergency kit consisting of hummus, dental dams, and a cheat sheet of Indigo Girls’ lyrics.
