President Obama today, International Human Rights Day, issued a presidential memorandum “directing all agencies engaged abroad to ensure that U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and protect the human rights of LGBT persons.” In coordination, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton gave a speech today that focused on the human rights of LGBT people—a speech
At first, I ignored it when I saw a few people posting the Zach Wahls video again over the past few days. The Iowa college student with two moms had shot to viral fame last February when he spoke at an Iowa House hearing about a bill to ban marriage for same-sex couples. I’d posted
Here are some of the parenting-specific LGBT stories of late: Deborah Skolnik of Parenting.com writes at CNN of “The new normal: Stay-at-home Dads and gay parents.” A nice piece that shows the many different varieties of families and family organization. Allison Sherry at the Denver Post profiles U.S. Reps. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) and Cory Gardner
Reps. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), along with Senators Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME), introduced the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act in their respective houses. The Act would offer the same benefits to the same-sex domestic partners of federal employees as to opposite-sex married spouses. The U.S. Department of Health and
Yes, same-sex couples can marry in Iowa—but a state district court heard arguments last week in a case to determine whether the child born to a married lesbian couple has the right to have the names of both her parents on her birth certificate, as do children of same-sex couples legally married (and civil unioned)
First, a happy Veterans Day to all of you, including my spouse, who have served or are serving in our country’s armed forces. The observance this year is, of course, the first one at which gay and lesbian servicemembers can celebrate openly with their families. Over at the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, Col. E. A.
Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and 132 other Democrats filed an amicus brief in Massachusetts v. Dept. of Health and Human Services and Gill vs. Office of Personnel Management, asking the First Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold a lower court ruling that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional. Seventy Massachusetts and national employers
I’ve posted a few longish pieces recently, How to Help Aging LGBT Parents and Are Boys in Princess Dresses the Scariest Thing on Halloween?, along with information about a couple of major new reports on LGBT families, “Expanding Resources for Children III: Research-Based Best Practices in Adoption by Gays and Lesbians” and “All Children Matter:
This morning, eight current and former members of the U.S. armed services filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and “seeking equal recognition, benefits and family support for equal sacrifice and service in the U.S. Armed Forces.” Three of the plaintiffs are lesbian moms, including lead plaintiff, Major Shannon L.
A major new report, “All Children Matter: How Legal and Social Inequalities Hurt LGBT Families” (PDF), was released today by the Center for American Progress, the Family Equality Council, and the Movement Advancement Project, in partnership with COLAGE, The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, and the National Association of Social Workers (with a foreword by the Child Welfare League of
