The U.S. State Department declared its support for the UN Statement on “Human Rights, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity,” joining 66 other UN member states who have done so, condemning human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity wherever they occur. The Washington Post endorsed the Uniting American Families Act that would allow
Earlier, I posted the testimony of the daughter of two moms testifying before the Vermont Senate. Below is the testimony of Outright Youth & Board Representative James Neiley, talking from his perspective as a gay teen. Have the tissues handy, especially when he gets to the passage on how he would like to raise his
A teen speaks up for her mothers in front of the Vermont Senate committee that just approved a bill for marriage equality. It will go to the full Senate next week. (More videos by and about LGBT families at the Mombian YouTube Channel.)
News about kids, parenting and schools for this week: Not specifically LGBT, but still relevant: Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) reintroduced the Responsible Education about Life (REAL) Act legislation, to authorize federal funding for comprehensive and medically accurate sex education. Transgender youth face even higher levels of victimization in school
Bay Windows has more on GLAD’s DOMA challenge, the likely response from the Obama administration, and reactions from the LGBT community around the country. In two separate rulings, the federal appeals court in California said that employees of their court were entitled to health benefits for their same-sex partners under the benefits program for federal
The news came fast and furious this week: The good: A Kentucky bill to ban unmarried couples from becoming foster or adoptive parents is effectively dead after not being called for a floor vote this session. Good news. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced that the antigay Arizona-based Adoption Profiles, LLC and Adoption Media,
Thanks to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), same-sex couples who live together will be defined as “unmarried partners” in the 2010 U.S. Census. Their children will be counted as belonging to single parents, even if the couples are legally wed in a state that permits them to do so. If the partners list themselves
Milk, starring Sean Penn in his Academy Award-winning role, is now available on DVD and on demand. If you haven’t seen it yet, do make an effort. It’s well worth it, and raises some spooky parallels between what happened with the gay rights movement in the 1970’s and what’s happening today. It’s not a perfect
Saturday’s Hartford Courant reports: Concerned that the state’s new same-sex marriage law would infringe on religious liberties, the Connecticut Catholic Conference today proposed some broad exemptions which it believes are necessary to protect those rights. The law does not require Catholic priests—or any other clergy member—to preside over same-sex weddings. However, the church is seeking
Lots of stuff on the Prop 8 hearing this week, of course. Even U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has weighed in, saying, “This attempt to undo good that has been done is unacceptable.” The New York Times called it “a bruising hearing.” Both the L.A. Times and the San Francisco Chronicle think the Court is
