Good politics, bad politics, nonbiological mothers, and . . . puppets?
Politics and Law
- A Russian bill that would have had the power to take children away from lesbian and gay parents has been withdrawn, but is expected to be resubmitted after revisions, reports Buzzfeed.
- The UK Supreme Court upheld a court ruling in favor of same-sex and unmarried couples adopting children in Northern Ireland, despite an attempt by Northern Ireland Health Minister Edwin Poots to overturn it, reports PinkNews.co.uk.
- Australian Senator Penny Wong, a lesbian mom, was reelected Labor Leader in the Senate. (If you haven’t seen her moment of awesome last year in taking down a right-wing politician who said children fared best with a mother and a father, go watch.)
- Lesbian moms Carol McCrory and Brenda Clark, “who have been together for 25 years and raised two children,” became the first same-sex couple in North Carolina to have their marriage application accepted, HuffPo tells us.
- The Caspar Star-Tribune profiles Wyoming gay dads Jim Osborn and Jesse Taylor, and takes a look at how LGBT acceptance has changed (or not) in the Equality State since the time of Matthew Shepard’s death.
Nonbio Notes
- The Michigan appeals court upheld a lower court ruling that a nonbiological mother has no rights to a child born to her former partner, reports the Detroit Free Press.
- This happens as two other moms in Michigan are pursuing a federal case for joint adoption and marital rights — which as Denise Brogan-Kator of the Family Equality Council reminds us, are not the same thing.
- As sociologist Dr. Abbie Goldberg has found, “My research on 20 young adults who had experienced their same-sex parents’ relationship dissolution in the absence of marriage suggests that children may suffer damaged relationships with their nonbiological parents in the wake of parents’ relationship dissolution. And the inequities in parents’ biological status are exacerbated in the absence of legal protections, because the nonbiological parent has little legal recourse.”
Puppetry
- Puppets Sheka and Teka (“Plug” and “Socket”) have long starred in ads for the state-owned Israel Electric Corporation, and like their counterparts Bert and Ernie, have generated much speculation about their relationship. The speculation was heightened recently by a new ad campaign which showed them with a baby puppet. Could they have one-upped their Muppet counterparts to be the world’s first gay dad puppets?