Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman today declared Florida’s 30-year-old ban on adoption by gay men and lesbians unconstitutional, saying, “It is clear that sexual orientation is not a predictor of a person’s ability to parent.” ‘Bout time they realized that. State lawyers have already said they will challenge the decision. At the moment, however, it […]
Discovery Health will feature lesbian moms Karen and Janice tomorrow (Tuesday) on Five Under 5 at 8:00 p.m. ET. The moms have a four-year-old daughter and twin sons, and are preparing to welcome another set of twins. I feel exhausted just thinking about it—but they seem to be quite the happy family. If you want
[Our “She Got Me Pregnant” vlog will be posted tomorrow. Stay tuned. Back to Thursdays next week.] A few items of note from hither and yon: Thomas Beatie, the transgender man whose pregnancy made headlines, is expecting a second child, ABC News reveals. Beatie will be talking with Barbara Walters on 20/20 tomorrow night at
Thomas Beatie, the transgender man who gave birth to a daughter this summer, will speak with Barbara Walters this week in his first interview since becoming a parent. Here’s from the ABC press release: A Barbara Walters exclusive — Last spring, the stunning announcement that Thomas Beatie, a transgender man, was pregnant sparked controversy and
Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD), the New England LGBT legal organization, is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a series of podcasts on their landmark cases. The case for October tells the story of Don Babets and David Jean, a gay couple who began fostering two brothers in 1985 through the state’s foster care
Hot off the presses: The good news keeps rolling in this week: The Arkansas Blog (from the Arkansas Times) reports that the state Department of Human Services will drop its rule that prohibits placement of foster children in homes with unmarried couples (and by definition, same-sex couples). “Instead, it will decide placement on a case
Good news: The U.S. Supreme Court today refused to hear a case “that would have had far-reaching implications for lesbians and single women choosing to bear children,” according to law professor Nancy Polikoff, author of Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage: Valuing All Families under the Law. The case involves a Kansas woman whose sperm donor
Because the financial bailout isn’t the only thing happening this week: Ten-year-old Kira Findling of Sebastopol, California, wrote “Please Let My Moms Be Married,” a moving plea to vote no on Prop. 8, for the Press Democrat newspaper. A new report by the nonpartisan Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute in New York concludes that gay
Quick: How many famous gay dads can you name? For me, the answer is “Not many.” While most of us can reel off at least a few names of famous lesbian moms, starting with Melissa and Rosie (if not the whole list of Most Powerful Lesbian Moms in America), I think we’d be hard pressed
The Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled this week that adoptions by stepparents are allowed only when the stepparent is married to the child’s biological parent. In a catch-22, same-sex stepparents cannot therefore adopt because Kentucky has a constitutional amendment banning marriage of same-sex couples. The ruling holds regardless of whether the person was involved in
