Supreme Court Upholds Dismissal of LGBT Children’s Book Case
After refusing to rule on a case involving a sperm donor who claimed parental rights, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a second rejection this week that means good news for LGBT families.
milestone
Supreme Court Lets Stand Ruling on Lesbians and Donor Semen
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
Out-of-State Same-Sex Couples Can Marry in Massachusetts
The Massachusetts House just voted to repeal the 1913 law that prevented most out-of-state same-sex couples from marrying in the Bay State. The bill now goes to Governor Deval Patrick, who has said he will sign it. Massachusetts was, of course, the first state to legalize marriage for same-sex couples, although California was the first
First to Marry, After Five Decades
Del Martin, 87, and Phyllis Lyon, 83, will be the first same-sex couple to have a legal wedding in California. The couple, who have been together for over five decades, were also the first to wed when San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom began marrying couples in 2004—marriages that were then revoked by the state. The
California Supreme Court Rules For Marriage Equality!
The California Supreme Court has ruled (PDF link): We conclude that to the extent the current California statutory provisions limit marriage to opposite-sex couples, these statutes are unconstitutional. . . . we determine that the language of section 300 limiting the designation of marriage to a union “between a man and a woman” is unconstitutional
New Rights for Lesbian Moms in Australia
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.
Court Upholds Right to Teach About Same-Sex Families in Schools
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit on Thursday unanimously upheld the rejection of a suit brought by two couples from Lexington, Massachusetts, who said their school district had no right to include LGBT-related books like King & King in its elementary school curriculum. (See my August post about the case.) The parents
Oregon Wins Domestic Partnerships
A big congratulations to the citizens of Oregon who have at long last won the right to domestic partnerships. From the Basic Rights Oregon press release: Judge Michael Mosman ruled at 4:25 PM today that opponents of domestic partnership did, indeed, fail to gather the necessary signatures to place the law on the ballot for
Nation’s First Lesbian, African-American Mayor Also a Mother and Grandmother
E. Denise Simmons received a lot of press coverage last week when she took office in Cambridge, Massachusetts as the nation’s first openly lesbian, African-American mayor. What wasn’t revealed in the first round of press coverage was that she is also the mother of four and the grandmother of three. The Boston EDGE just published
First Rainbow List of LGBT-Themed Children’s Books
The GLBT Round Table of the American Library Association has published its first “Rainbow List” of the year’s best LGBT-themed children’s and young adult books. (Since this is the list’s inaugural year, it in fact includes books of the past three years.) Thanks to K. T. Horning of Worth the Trip for making the list
