The West Virginia Supreme Court ruled unanimously Friday that Kathryn Kutil and Cheryl Hess, a lesbian couple who have been fostering an 18-month-old girl since shortly after she was born, can maintain custody and not turn the child over to an opposite-sex couple for adoption, as ordered by a lower court. The Supreme Court ruling […]
Our stories told: Author, parent, and transgender woman Jennifer Finney Boylan recently told her story of transitioning in the New York Times’s column, “Modern Love.” Thanks to Family Equality for pointing out the piece. The 2009 Pride and Joy Families Weekend Conference in upstate New York was a big success, according to the Utica Observer-Dispatch.
On parental rights: A Michigan state House committee approved legislation for second-parent adoptions, splitting the vote along party lines. (Do I really need to specify which party voted in favor?) A Montana woman, Barbara Maniaci, is asking the state Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling that recognized her former partner as a co-parent
Many prospective adoptive couples don’t care about the gender of their children, found Dr. Abbie Goldberg, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Clark University, in a new study. Gay men are, however, more likely to have a preference, and heterosexual men are least likely. Opposite-sex couples are more likely to prefer girls than those in same-sex
In a special session of the Utah Legislature, lawmakers of both houses approved a bill that would require all children born in the state to be raised by LGBT people. A delegation rushed the bill to the governor’s desk, where he signed it immediately. “When you look at all the cases of child abuse in
Here is the seventh interview in this phase of the Family Voices series. This time around, I am teaming up with Julieta of Ju, An y el Perro Activista to extend the series to include non-U.S. LGBT families. Julieta has also done Spanish translations of all the interviews, which you will find after the English
Mostly good news this week, huzzah! First, one that didn’t make it into this week’s LGBT Parenting Roundup, but which is excellent news for LGBT families: Congressman Pete Stark (D-CA) reintroduced the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) into the U.S. House, adding important updates that would provide paid leave for all workers to care
Rockin’ gay dads, another pregnant transgender man, and actual Good News on the political front in a couple of areas this week. First, some food for thought: A new study from the always insightful Williams Institute at UCLA found that same-sex couples are “significantly” more likely to be poor than opposite-sex married couples. Even more
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
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,
