Stef and Lena are getting married tonight, and I’m excited. The lesbian moms of ABC Family’s The Fosters are ending their summer with a big shindig that promises to bring together all of the season’s relationship angst, teen drama, and emotional reflections on what makes a family. But will the California wedding, on a show that […]
The past couple of weeks have seen a new round of progress in several marriage-equality lawsuits—and just as with the cases that brought down the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8, lesbian moms are again in the forefront, along with a number of gay dads. Two of the cases (in Michigan and North Carolina) even began as challenges to state bans on second-parent adoptions, and later evolved into marriage-ban challenges as well.
As we head into the end of a milestone week for LGBT equality, please enjoy this short video of three California same-sex families, including two dads (with their daughter) and two moms, talking about what this week’s Supreme Court rulings on marriage mean to them.
As we all ride the waves of elation and joy from yesterday’s marriage equality victories, we lesbian moms can take extra pride in knowing that several of our own were among those leading the way. Prop 8 plaintiffs Kris Perry and Sandy Stier have four kids. And attorney Mary Bonauto, who has been called the “mastermind” of the DOMA repeal, has twins.
The U.S. Supreme Court has just ruled that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional—in other words, that the federal government must recognize legally enacted marriages of same-sex couples. The Court also said those defending California’s Proposition 8 had no standing to do so—clearing the way for same-sex couples to marry in California.
Today’s the day. Really. No more waiting. At 10 a.m., the U.S. Supreme Court will announce its remaining decisions for the session, including ones in the two marriage equality cases under consideration.
At yesterday’s U. S. Supreme Court hearing on marriage equality, Justice Samuel Alito asked, “But you want us to step in and render a decision based on an assessment of the effects of this institution [same-sex marriage] which is newer than cell phones or the Internet? I mean we—we are not—we do not have the ability to see the future.” I have an answer for him.
I’m still in a happy mood from Valentine’s Day yesterday, so I’ll start you off with some happy stories about happy families before segueing into some more political items.
Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court announced Friday that it will review the Prop 8 case and another case challenging the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), speculation has been running amuck in the LGBT blogosphere. What does it mean? What if we lose? What do we gain if we win? As with many legal matters, especially for us non-lawyers, the issues are are complicated. A major newspaper, in fact, has just published an article that spreads a misconception about what the Supreme Court review could mean for same-sex parents.
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.
