Sometimes, in our efforts to correct one instance of intolerance, we forget others. Two weeks ago, a Miami-Dade judge declared Florida’s anti-gay adoption law unconstitutional and allowed Vanessa Alenier to adopt the one-year-old she and her partner Melanie Leon have been fostering. The ultra-conservative Orlando’s Florida Family Policy Council (FPC) sent out an alert to
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen told a Senate committee he is in favor of repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Mullen and Defense Secretary Robert Gates said they have appointed a high-level working group to report, by the end of the year, on how the military can implement such a change if Congress
Schools and Youth The Tennessee General Assembly’s House Education subcommittee referred to another subcommittee two bills that would ban the teaching of any sexuality other than heterosexuality. That means the bills’ fate is uncertain, although the head of the Tennessee Equality Project said he would have preferred a vote to defeat them. Don’t Ask, Don’t
Here’s a fun one for you. Which of these two quotes was made by a witness for the plaintiffs, and which by a witness for the defense, in the federal trial to overturn California’s Prop 8? “I believe that adopting same-sex marriage would be likely to improve the well-being of gay and lesbian households and
President Obama, in his State of the Union speech, said he would work with Congress and the military to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell “this year.” The Advocate rounds up some of the reactions. DC Agenda reports that “LGBT political insiders . . . believe the Employment Non-Discrimination Act is headed for almost certain defeat
President Obama called for the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” last night in his State of the Union speech. Bravo. I hope the LGBT community—and all citizens who want to see our military strengthened with all who wish to serve—hold him to that. Here’s my question, though: Once we allow gay men and lesbians
“The only thing the State or anybody should be looking at, the best interests of the child and how he is loved.” —Florida Judge Maria Sampedro-Iglesia, in granting Vanessa Alenier’s petition to adopt an infant cousin, despite the state ban on gay men and lesbians adopting children (via Nancy Polikoff)
Parenting Studies “How Does the Gender of Parents Matter?” asks the lead article in this month’s Journal of Marriage and Family. The answer, from sociologists Timothy Biblarz of University of Southern California and Judith Stacey of New York University, is that it doesn’t, with the “partial exception of lactation.” The gender of parents “has minor
(I originally wrote this as my end-of-year newspaper column a few weeks ago. The Jenkins-Miller case has seen some action since that time. The rest, I hope, is a good look back before we move forward.) “Whether children are raised by two parents, a single parent, grandparents, a same-sex couple, or a guardian, families encourage
A bit brief this week, but I’m sure you’ll be busy just keeping up with the Prop 8 trial. All the Prop 8 news that’s fit to print: Some of those covering the trial in detail are Bilerico, the Courage Campaign, Keen News Service, the San Jose Mercury News, Pam’s House Blend, and the New
