Weekly Political Roundup

• U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) introduced a bill to amend the Fair Housing Act to ban housing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
• The commissioners of Kissimmee, Florida voted to allow city employees to cover their unmarried domestic partners under the city’s health and dental insurance plan.
• The Oklahoma state Senate approved an amendment to opt out of federal hate crimes protections for LGBT people. The measure now heads to the House for consideration. (Oklahoma, you may recall, had a law prohibiting the state from recognizing adoptions by same-sex couples from other states and countries, until a federal judge struck it down in 2006.) Read the rest of this post »

LGBT Parenting Roundup

Schools and Youth

• The ACLU and and Mississippi Safe Schools Coalition are advocating on behalf of a Mississippi high school student who wants to go to the prom with her girlfriend. School officials have said she may not arrive with her girlfriend or wear a tux, and must leave if other students become “uncomfortable.”
• A Catholic preschool in Boulder, Colorado has told a lesbian couple their child cannot return to the school next year because their sexual orientation is against Catholic teaching and school policy.
• The Washington State senate passed an LGBT-inclusive anti-bullying bill. It now goes to Gov. Christine Gregoire, who has said she will sign it. Read the rest of this post »

Florida “Family-Friendly” Film Tax Credit Would Exclude Movies with Gay Families

Watching the Oscars tonight? Here’s some filmmaking news that will have you seething:

Florida lawmakers are considering an incentive package to attract film and entertainment jobs to the state.  Productions with “nontraditional family values,” however, would be ineligible.  State Rep. Stephen Precourt (R-Orlando), who introduced the bill, said that films depicting gay families should not get the tax credit, reports the Palm Beach Post.

Gov. Charlie Crist agreed, defining “traditional” families as those with a married man and woman. (Someone should tell him that according to the 2000 U.S. Census, less than 25% of all families in the U.S. consist of a married, opposite-sex couple living with their own (biological or adopted) children.)

The bill (HB 697) was approved unanimously last week in the House Economic Development Policy Committee, and is apparently a priority for Republicans as part of their promise to create jobs.

Not everyone who wants to limit the tax credit to “family-friendly” films agrees with Precourt about the definition of family values. Some say that limiting the tax credit to “G-rated” films is enough. It is also unclear whether the language about “nontraditional family values” would make it through the state Senate version of the bill. Still, this type of thing sets my teeth on edge.

After the jump, the relevant section of the legislation. “Nontraditional family values” are lumped in with smoking, sex, nudity, gratuitous violence, and vulgar or profane language. There go my hopes of selling a screenplay that’s a sort of Heather Has Two Mommies meets Pulp Fiction. Read the rest of this post »

Weekly Political Roundup

First, an opportunity: The Bilerico Project and PFLAG have partnered to provide funding for unemployed LGBT people to go to Washington, D.C. on March 16 and lobby on behalf of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). Details are here.

• Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and 11 Democratic cosponsors introduced a bill to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. The House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee held hearings on the policy Wednesday.
• Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) called for an end to the ban on blood donation by gay men.
• An unknown senator or senators have put a hold on the nomination of lesbian law professor Chai Feldblum to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Read the rest of this post »

Happy Marriage Equality, D.C.!

A big congratulations to the same-sex couples in Washington, D.C., who can apply for marriage licenses starting today, with ceremonies to begin March 9. (Here’s how, if you want to.)

The D.C. Marriage Bureau says it is preparing for a “flood” of couples. Several couples have volunteered to be media spokespeople, and because a few of them have children, I want to highlight them here. They represent only a few of the many families who will be celebrating in the coming days, but deserve our thanks for being willing to take on extra responsibilities during what would be a stressful day under any circumstances.

Information below provided by the Campaign for All DC Families.

Angelisa Young and Sinjolya Townsend

Angelisa and Sinjolya, both African-American females, will be married at HRC Equality Forum on March 9th in the presence of family and friends. Angelisa (age 47) and Sinjolya (age 41) have been together for 13 years and have two children ages 21 and 25. They both work for DC government and are long-time residents of the District.

Reginald (Reggie) Stanley and Rocky Galloway

Reggie and Rocky, both African-American males, are long time residents of the district. They are both 50 years old and have two children, Malena and Zoe Stanley-Galloway, that are each 15 months old. They will be married at HRC Equality Forum on March 9th. Participating in the ceremony will be their two children, Jim Cullion (the best man) and Cherrie McCoy (the best woman).

Rick A. Imirowicz and Terrance Heath

Rick Imirowicz, a forty-three-year old Caucasian male, will be marrying Terrance Heath, a forty-one-year old African-American male. Rick is a doctor and practices Catholicism, while Terrance practices Buddhism. They are long-time District residents, have been together for 10 years and have two children.

[Terrance is a long-time blogger. I had the pleasure of giving a blogging workshop with him on an R Family cruise a few years back. Go visit him over at Republic of T and congratulate him and his family. —DR]

Weekly Political Roundup

• Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) plans to introduce a bill as soon as next week to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. He says it will still be hard to get it passed this year.
• Meanwhile the Marine Corps commandant said that while he supports a Pentagon assessment about how to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the repeal must be secondary to the military’s ability to protect our country.
• President Obama nominated federal prosecutor and out lesbian Laura Duffy as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California. Read the rest of this post »

Good News In Pennsylvania Custody Ruling

Too good to wait for the next roundup: The Pennsylvania state Superior Court overturned a 25-year-old precedent that said in custody cases involving former opposite-sex couples, where one person is now in a same-sex relationship, the burden is placed on the LGB parent to prove that the same-sex relationship will have no adverse effect on the child.

In the current case, Dauphin County Senior Judge Joseph F. Kleinfelter had ignored the recommendation of a neutral social worker who proposed either a shared custody arrangement or primary custody going to the mother. Judge Kleinfelter, however, awarded primary custody to the father because the mother  was now involved with another woman.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports his original bias:

He concluded that “when weighing [daughter's] best interests between the two households, we believe those interests are better served by placing her in a traditional heterosexual environment.”

Judge Kleinfelter said he awarded primary custody to the father based on his personal experience as a judge, parent, grandparent and foster parent.

The Superior Court, reports the Post-Gazette, found he, “abused his discretion by both ignoring the recommendations of the social worker and by basing his decision on his personal opinion.” (Remind me again why anti-LGBT people always criticize pro-LGBT people for having “activist judges”?) The Superior Court awarded shared custody to both parents.

(Thanks, Sue!)

LGBT Parenting Roundup

Politics and Law

• A Vermont family court judge issued a warrant for the arrest of Lisa Miller, an “ex-lesbian” who disappeared with the girl who is legally the child of her and her former civil union partner, Janet Jenkins.
• A bit of good news to follow up on a case I posted about last June, when a California Court of Appeal denied the appeal of Kristina S., a biological, “ex-lesbian” mom (are you sensing a pattern here?) who has been trying since 2004 to prevent her former partner Charisma R. from being declared a legal parent to the child they planned and began to raise together. Now, the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear the case. Charisma was represented by the National Center for Lesbian Rights; Kristina by the conservative Liberty Counsel. Nancy Polikoff explains that while the SCOTUS refusal sets no precedent, the California opinion in the case helps “protect a person designated as a parent under state law” and the SCOTUS denial “can’t help but add the tiniest bit of ‘oomph’ to any citation of the case in other states.”
• The Arizona House advanced a bill to give preference in adoption cases to legally married couples. The Arizona Republic reports, “Unmarried adults could still be considered for adoption when they are related to or already have a relationship with the child, or if there is not a married couple available. The best interests of the child would remain the determining factor in choosing adoptive parents.” That’s all well and good, but still . . . . Equality Arizona has launched an online petition through which Arizonans can contact their legislators and ask them to oppose the bill.
• Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell “almost certainly” will appeal last week’s federal appeals court ruling that ordered the state to issue an amended birth certificate listing two gay New York men as parents of a child born in Shreveport whom they adopted.

Entertainment

• The cast of Glee, which includes out actor Jane Lynch as well as several gay characters, has been invited to perform at the White House Egg Roll in April. Last year, the Obama administration reached out directly to LGBT families, encouraging them to attend the Egg Roll. Nice, but what about equality under the law, as I’ve said before (and as Dorothy Snarker rightly points out again)?
• Not exactly parenting news, but because those of us with children of a certain age are likely to have video games in the house—and sometimes play them ourselves—it’s worth noting that LesbianGamers.com has relaunched with a new look and all of the reviews, commentary, and other good stuff they’ve become known for.

NCAA Pulls Focus on Family Ads

Under pressure from LGBT advocates, including Pat Griffin, Change.org, and (I imagine) many of you, the NCAA has pulled the Focus on the Family (FOF) ads from its Web site.

As I wrote yesterday, the ads were running at NCAA.com, a site managed in partnership with CBSsports.com. CBS came under fire for running FOF ads during the Super Bowl in January.

There’s still no word about future ads, or about the rumor that CBS will run FOF ads during the upcoming NCAA basketball championships, so stay tuned. Reproductive health blog RH Reality Check also covered the story. (FOF is as anti-choice as they are anti-LGBT.) The story made the virtual pages of Inside Higher Ed, though (h/t, Andy), so let’s hope that not only the LGBT community, but also the community of all fair-minded people in higher education can keep the pressure on.

Tell the NCAA to Stop Running Ads for Focus on the Family

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is running banner ads for ultra-conservative group Focus on the Family. You can see them at NCAA.com. (If you don’t, just reload the page; the ads are in rotation with some others.)

This is an affront to all LGBT, feminist, and allied NCAA athletes and former athletes. I was an NCAA athlete myself, and I’m personally pissed.

I first learned of the incident from Pat Griffin’s LGBT Sport Blog. Griffin is the former director of It Takes A Team, an education and advocacy project addressing LGBT issues in sport. She observes:

The NCAA constitutional principles include an explicit prohibition on discrimination based on sexual orientation. Lesbian and gay student-athletes, coaches, and administrators are a significant part of the NCAA’s membership. Women are a significant part of the NCAA on all levels. Many of the individual institutions [i.e.,  colleges and universities] that belong to the NCAA have policies prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation. Yet the NCAA apparently thinks it is just fine to support an anti-gay agenda.

Griffin also says (which I cannot confirm, but have no reason to doubt) that CBS plans to air FOF ads throughout the men’s NCAA basketball tournament in March “with the complete complicity, consent and support of the NCAA.” CBS, as you may know, came under fire for running an FOF ad during the Super Bowl. Read the rest of this post »