Politics and Law

LGBT Parenting: 40 Years of a “Quieter Revolution”

President Obama has said that same-sex parents and their children influenced his decision to support marriage equality. And in the Washington Post recently, Janice D’Arcy asked, “Has gay parenting ‘normalized’ the perception of gay relationships?” The interaction between LGBT parenting rights and relationship rights is indeed a fascinating and important question—and one charted in part by law professor Carlos Ball, whose new book also gives us a compelling history of the expansion of LGBT parenting rights. Here’s my review of his work, originally published as my Mombian newspaper column.

More Opinions On Obama, Marriage, and Same-Sex Parents

When President Obama announced his support for marriage equality, I was only one of numerous writers who pointed out that he stressed the influence of same-sex parents and their children on his decision. Here are two worthwhile articles that explain why Obama’s positioning of his statement in this way is especially significant.

Australian Minister and Lesbian Mom Defends Her Family in “A Watershed Moment”

Penny Wong, an Australian senator and the Commonwealth Minister for Finance and Deregulation, and also a lesbian mom, gave a dignified and heartfelt answer to Representative Joe Hockey when he was asked on talk show Q & A about marriage equality. LGBT advocates are calling it “a watershed moment” in public awareness and understanding of the issue on a personal level.

Support Access to Fertility Services for Lesbian Moms

MeiBeck “Chino” and Maya Scott-Chung are lesbian moms raising a seven-year-old daughter. When they wanted to add another child to their family, but had trouble conceiving, they discovered that the only way they could get access to assisted reproductive services was to pretend that one of them was in a heterosexual relationship with their known donor (whom they had used to conceive their daughter).

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Children of Same-Sex Parents Influenced Obama’s Evolution on Marriage

When President Obama first announced his support for marriage equality yesterday, he mentioned that his new view was motivated in part by same-sex couples who are raising kids together. In a campaign e-mail later yesterday evening, he said again that he was influenced by the children same-sex parents. His daughters have friends with same-sex parents, he added, and the girls assume that their families should be treated equally:

Obama Evolves: Supports Marriage for Same-Sex Couples

BREAKING NEWS: President Barack Obama, in an interview with ABC News this afternoon, announced, “I’ve just concluded that for me, personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married.”

Film Shows Lesbian Mom Losing Custody to Convicted Murderer

Sometimes it’s good to be reminded of how far we’ve come. In 1995, Floridian Mary Ward lost custody of their daughter to her ex-husband, even though he had been absent from the girl’s life for six years—and been convicted of murdering his first wife in a custody dispute. Why did the judge not award custody to Ward? She was a lesbian. Now, a new documentary tells the sobering story of the case.

GLAD Publishes Transgender Family Law Book

Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) has just announced the publication of Transgender Family Law: A Guide to Effective Advocacy, “the first book to comprehensively address legal issues facing transgender people in the family law context and provide practitioners the tools to effectively represent transgender clients.”

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