Blogging Baby reports today on some new statistics about lesbian and gay couples in the Netherlands. The number of such couples either married or in a registered partnership is on the rise, although they comprise just over 1% of all cohabiting couples in the country. While about 9% of such couples have children, this represents […]
An Arkansas state appellate court is now reviewing a law that bans foster parents from having “adult homosexuals” in their households. The law was struck down last year, but the state is appealing the decision. What amuses me here is the attached definition of a “homosexual” as “any person who voluntarily and knowingly engages in
Same-sex couples can’t marry in Georgia, but children can, as long as they have unprotected premarital sex and conceive a child. This nearly forgotten Georgia law came to light last week when a 37-year-old woman was arrested for having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old boy. The woman had wed the boy several days before,
The Supreme Court ruled today, 6-2, that parents who challenge the adequacy of a disabled child’s “individualized education program” have the burden of proving it inadequate. The two dissenting justices felt that conversely, the school district should have to prove a program’s adequacy in such cases. While much of the current press surrounding Supreme Court
This weekend marked the 18th annual “Creating Change” conference sponsored by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Among other things, the conference included a screening of “In My Shoes,” a half-hour movie produced by middle and high school-aged members of COLAGE, about their experiences as children of same-sex parents. I haven’t seen the film
A U. S. Senate panel led by Kansas Senator Sam Brownback yesterday approved a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. The amendment will now go to the full Judiciary Committee and, if it passes there, the full Senate, the House, and then the state legislatures. As the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports, however, Democrats are saying this tramples on
A brief political roundup for election week: Yesterday, Texas voters approved a measure placing an amendment in the Texas Bill of Rights defining marriage as a union of one man and one woman. It is unclear whether the language of the amendment would also ban other legal ties between same-sex partners, a similar conundrum to
The Seattle Times has a good editorial reinforcing what I said in my previous post about the recent Washington state ruling that gives a non-bio mom the right to seek parental rights. The key point: This dispute could have been avoided if the Washington Legislature had given the two women the ability to get married.
The Washingon State Supreme Court ruled yesterday that a non-bio mom who raised a child with her partner from birth to age 6 can seek rights as a “de facto parent,” the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. This is certainly better than a ruling to the contrary, but doesn’t go as far as California’s August ruling that
A Catholic school near Milwaukee has banned a fashion show put on by American Girl, Mattel’s popular brand of historical dolls, because of the company’s financial support of Girls, Inc. Girls Inc. offers a variety of programs for helping girls develop their self esteem, providing resources on topics such as leadership, science, sports, money management,
