I wrote at length yesterday of the disappointing New York same-sex marriage ruling. One new development is that lawyers in Massachusetts are now saying the ruling effectively prohibits New York same-sex couples from marrying in Massachusetts. Massachusetts law prevents out-of-state couples from marrying there if their home state does not permit their marriage. I’m no […]
Let’s start with some good news: The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples could become foster parents because (gasp!) there is no correlation between a child’s welfare and living with a “homosexual.” The Georgia Supreme Court began hearing arguments on reinstituting a ban on same-sex marriage. Last spring, a lower court ruled the amendment
A relatively slow week for pure political news, though the decisions by the Episcopalian and Presbyterian churches have political dimensions. The Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military discovered a Pentagon document of retirement and discharge policies that classifies homosexuality with mental disorders, despite mental health experts abandoning that view decades ago.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the U. S. should debate same-sex marriage “with respect for every human being,” but declined to give her own views, saying it was not her area of expertise or concentration. Cop-out or good decision not to play politics by stepping into a domestic issue that, well, really isn’t in
This week’s big story was, of course, the defeat of the Federal Marriage Amendment. News didn’t stop happening elsewhere, though: Alabama adopted a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, with over 80% of voters supporting the ban. The state of Missouri dropped its appeal of a decision that a lesbian was wrongly prevented from becoming a
The U. S. Supreme Court refused without comment to hear the custody case of a separated lesbian couple from California. The bio mom is trying to deny second-parent adoption of their younger child to the non-bio mom, although the non-bio mom has adopted the couple’s older child. This is the second lesbian-custody case the Court
The big news item this week is that the U. S. Senate Judiciary Committee approved a same-sex marriage ban. This means it now moves before the whole Senate, with a vote scheduled the week of June 5. Committee chair Arlen Specter(R) says he does not support the measure, but wants the full Senate to discuss
The California Senate approved a bill requiring California schools to teach the contributions of LGBT people to state and U. S. history. The bill must now pass the state Assembly. Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich used his executive powers to give health benefits to partners of lesbian and gay state employees. Next door, in Indiana, Attorney
Two issues dominated the national LGBT political news this week: The aftermath of Mary Cheney’s book launch and Primetime interview. USA Today has a trio of editorials representing the majority of opinions I’ve heard. (Summarized, they seem to be: “Why are you an apologist for a party that not only wants to restrict your rights,
Mary Cheney, Dick Cheney’s lesbian daughter, spoke to ABC’s Primetime about her family, working on her father’s campaign, and her lesbianism. The interview served to promote her upcoming book, Now It’s my Turn: A Daughter’s Chronicle Of Political Life. Response around the blogosphere has been harsh, to say the least. Former Missouri Sen. John Danforth
