Go read “Beyond the straight and narrow” by Australian lesbian mom Jaqueline Tomlins, about how she and her seven-year-old handled schoolyard teasing about their family. It’s one of the most thoughtful pieces on the topic that I’ve read—and I’ve read quite a few. (Written some myself, in fact.) Happy Monday!
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) plans to introduce a bill as soon as next week to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. He says it will still be hard to get it passed this year. Meanwhile the Marine Corps commandant said that while he supports a Pentagon assessment about how to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the
Schools and Youth Yes, Iowa has marriage equality. They even have a safe schools law that requires inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity in the state’s Civil Rights Act and anti-bullying policies. Still, the Iowa Pride Network, in its 2009 School Climate Survey, found that more than half of the students surveyed (LGBT and
Let’s start with a funny: When I first saw the Advocate headline, “Lesbian Named Part Owner of Cubs,” my first thought was, “And I thought it was hard enough for lesbians to adopt human babies.” Politics and Law Lisa Neff’s piece at 365gay.com gives a touching example of how HUD’s proposed new anti-discrimination policies would
The House Education and Labor Committee heard testimony on the Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA). Openly gay Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) were among those who testified, as did Vandy Beth Glenn, who had been fired from her Georgia state legislative job when she announce she was transitioning. A coalition of grassroots groups
Politics and Law Two big wins this past week: Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court ruled that same-sex couples have the right to adopt each other’s children. Uruguay’s lower house of Congress approved a bill to allow same-sex couples to adopt children. The Senate must vote before September 15, and is also expected to approve. Uruguay approved
Politics and Law The North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled to preserve an adoption by the state’s only openly gay or lesbian legislator. Sen. Julia Boseman’s (D-New Hanover) former partner, Melissa Jarrell, the biological mother, was trying to deny Boseman’s parental rights, although a separate court had earlier approved the couple’s request for Boseman’s second-parent
Here is the eighth 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
LGBT parenting news from here and there: The Ohio Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal of a lower court ruling that upheld the joint parenting agreement between two former partners. One partner has tried to use the state ban on same-sex marriage and “marriage substitutes” to void the agreement and deny the other woman
This just in from Clare of When Do We Get the Toaster: Non-biological lesbian moms in New South Wales, Australia, will now have equal parenting rights and responsibilities under the law. The move brings NSW in line with Western Australia, the Australian Capital Territory, and the Northern Territory, as well as New Zealand and Canada.
