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 […]
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
Originally published in Bay Windows, November 13, 2007 (which explains the Massachusetts bias). See also this recent article about a similar initiative in Toronto. LGBT parents and educators in the Boston area are the source of one of the most comprehensive new resources for making elementary schools across the country more welcoming for all types
Some good news to start the week: By a mere 116 names, opponents of Oregon’s new same-sex domestic partnership law did not turn in enough valid signatures to suspend the measure and place it on the November 2008 ballot. This means the law will take effect next year, giving registered partners equal state rights related
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this afternoon that an Oklahoma law preventing same-sex couples from getting birth certificates for children adopted in other states is illegal under the “Full Faith and Credit Clause” of the U.S. Constitution. The Court thus upheld a previous U.S. District Court ruling that said a child born
A Circuit Court judge in Multnomah County, Oregon ruled Friday that a non-biological mother should receive automatic legal parental status over her partner’s biological child—that is, without needing to go through adoption procedures. If this wasn’t good enough news, the judge also found that “two Oregon laws (ORS 109.070 and ORS 109.243) granting parental rights
The legislators of Massachusetts did the right thing. Final vote was 45 in favor of sending a same-sex marriage ban to the voters; 151 against. Congratulations to all those who fought for this and supported the cause of equality. Now I need to call my spouse at work and tell her the news.
A piece of news too good to wait for my Weekly Political Roundup: Colorado is now the 10th state in the country to allow second-parent adoptions. Both same- and opposite-sex unmarried couples may now adopt children together. Governor Bill Ritter signed the bill into law yesterday, despite pressure from conservative religious groups to veto it.
The Advocate reports that “two women will be listed as parents on the birth certificate of a baby born this week in New Jersey, one of the first implications of a state supreme court ruling that gives same-sex couples access to the same rights as married couples.” This parentage decision, by a New Jersey family
Thanks to HRC for this hot-off-the-presses news: The federal Pension Protection Act signed into law today by President Bush includes two provisions extending important financial protections to same-sex couples as well as other Americans. HRC explains: The first provision, called “Non-Spousal Rollover”: Allows the transfer of an individual’s retirement plan benefits, like a 401(k), to
