California Advances Bills to Protect Lesbian Families (and Others)
The California legislature advanced two bills recently that would provide greater protection and equality to lesbian families and others that don’t fit the “mom-dad-kids” mold.
california
California Bill Would Allow 3 Parents, but Canadian Province Leading the Way
A new California bill would allow a child to have more than two legal parents, including two lesbian moms and their sperm donor. This may be new for the U.S., but one Canadian province is already leading here.
Support Access to Fertility Services for Lesbian Moms
MeiBeck “Chino” and Maya Scott-Chung are lesbian moms raising a seven-year-old daughter. When they wanted to add another child to their family, but had trouble conceiving, they discovered that the only way they could get access to assisted reproductive services was to pretend that one of them was in a heterosexual relationship with their known donor (whom they had used to conceive their daughter).
North Carolina Ad Shows Harm Marriage Inequality Does to Children
Marriage inequality harms children. Obvious to most readers here, I imagine—but the right-wing has long owned the “best interests of the children” argument in advertising and media. Now, however, one LGBT advocacy coalition is taking back that argument, in hopes of defeating yet another state constitutional ban on marriage for same-sex couples, this time Amendment One in North Carolina. See their new ad after the jump.
Prop 8 Ruled Unconstitutional: One Step Closer to Equality
A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has just ruled that Proposition 8, California’s ban on marriage of same-sex couples, is unconstitutional. The law “serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples.”
Weekly Political Roundup
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
Weekly Political Roundup
The U.S. House Armed Services Committee approved three amendments that would delay implementation of the repeal of the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. Air Force Major Margaret Witt, who was discharged in 2003 under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, will receive full retirement, the government will drop its appeal against her, and the discharge will
Weekly Political Roundup
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Westboro Baptist Church, an anti-gay hate group, had a first amendment right to protest near the funerals of American soldiers killed in Iraq. U.S. House Speaker John Boehner announced he will convene a bipartisan meeting to determine how Congress can defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in
Weekly Political Roundup
President Obama included an openly gay man, Richard Sorian, in his list of recess appointments. Sorian would become Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs in the Department of Health and Human Services. Lanae Erickson and Jon Cowan have a thought-provoking piece in Politico on how to sway the “persuadable middle” on marriage equality. Lt. Col. Victor
Weekly Political Roundup
Air Force Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach has filed a suit to try and stop his discharge under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT). And high-ranking West Point Cadet Katherine Miller resigned because she is a lesbian and unwilling to compromise her integrity over the policy. Rachel Maddow also has a few pointed words about DADT. A