Five Years Later: Proof Positive
May 17, 2004: The first legal marriages of same-sex couples in Massachusetts. Still locust-free here in the Bay State.
Politics and Law
Weekly Political Roundup
Another big week: President Obama “is under pressure to engage on a variety of gay issues that are coming to the fore” reports the New York Times. Perhaps obvious, but the article is a good summary of where things stand. Lawyer Emma Ruby-Sachs looks at the two lesbians who are under consideration for the U.S.
Breaking: Florida Appeals Court Says State Must Honor Second-Parent Adoptions of Other States
Via NCLR. My emphases: Today, the Florida Court of Appeals unanimously reversed a lower court ruling and held that Florida must give full faith and credit to adoptions granted to same-sex couples by other states, holding that Lara Embry, the plaintiff in the case, “must be given the same rights as any other adoptive parent
LGBT Parenting Roundup
Family stories: SoVo talks with a lesbian and a gay man who each have lesbian moms. It’s a rare look at these “second gen-ers” who are sometimes forgotten in our haste to insist that not all LGBT parents have LGBT kids. On a related note, Brett Berk (who guest posted here last week) discusses how
Daughter of Lesbian Moms in New Ad for California Marriage Equality
I’ve complained before about the shortcomings of last year’s No On 8 campaign ads, and suggested that same-sex families with children should have been highlighted more. Looks like the marriage equality effort, now boosted by Marc Solomon, formerly of MassEquality, is taking the message to heart—not from my urging alone, but from the many of
Repealing DADT Is Only the First Step
(I wrote this back in February for 365gay.com, but it seemed timely to repost it here (with slight updates) in light of the Army National Guard’s recent dismissal of West Point graduate and Arabic linguist Lt. Dan Choi under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” (He was on the Rachel Maddow Show last week.) Although the timetable
Whether You Like Gulls or Buoys, You Can Marry in Maine
What a week to be taking time away from blogging. I’m breaking my self-imposed absence, however, to pop in and say, “Go, Maine!” Governor John E. Baldacci today signed marriage equality into law. In the governor’s news release, he said, “In the past, I opposed gay marriage while supporting the idea of civil unions. I
Weekly Political Roundup
Another week of political milestones: The Hate Crimes Bill, aka the Matthew Shepard Act, aka the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, passed the House. It would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the categories covered by federal hate crimes laws. The bill now moves to the Senate. President Obama has expressed his
Judy Shepard on Rachel Maddow
Judy Shepard, mother of murdered student Matthew Shepard, was on The Rachel Maddow Show last night talking about the Hate Crimes bill, aka the Matthew Shepard Act, and about North Carolina Rep. Virginia Foxx’s statement that to call her son’s murder a hate crime is a “hoax.” No mother should ever have to go through
Enough Already!
Lesbian mom? Split up? Fine, things didn’t work out, but don’t go trying to pretend your former partner and co-parent wasn’t a parent. There’s entirely too much of that going around. The Salt Lake City Weekly just reported on Gena Edvalson and Jana Dickson, who are in exactly this situation. Dickson is the bio mom,