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Weekly Political Roundup
Frank Kameny, one of the founders of the LGBT rights movement, died at the age of 86. The U.S. Senate confirmed Alison Nathan to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, making her the second lesbian federal judge—and (fun Mombian fact!) the second lesbian mom to hold such a position. (Deborah [...]
In Memoriam: Paula Ettelbrick, LGBT Activist and Mother
Paula Ettelbrick, a long-time LGBT activist, died today at the age of 56 after battling ovarian cancer. Etteblrick was most recently Executive Director of the Stonewall Community Foundation in New York, but her former positions included executive director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, legal director at Lambda Legal, family policy director [...]
The Impact of DADT Repeal on Servicemembers’ Children
The military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) ban on openly lesbian and gay servicemembers is now gone. In a piece for Keen News Service, I took a look at how repeal of DADT will impact the children of these servicemembers. I’m not the only one to explore this issue, however. Stars and Stripes magazine, a Department of [...]
Gay Mayoral Candidate and Daughter in Ad
San Francisco mayoral candidate Bevan Dufty, a gay dad, has a new ad out featuring him and his daughter. The wonderful thing about the ad is that they could be any candidate and child—the fact that he’s a gay dad is completely incidental. The ad is very sweet—and that’s not an adjective I often use [...]
First Openly LGBT Parent in Congress
Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) and his partner Marlon Reis welcomed their son Caspian Julius into the world today, making Polis the first openly LGBT parent in Congress. Congratulations to the family. Thanks to Family Equality for the heads up. (Click their link for a photo.)
How Many Same-Sex Parents Are There?
How many same-sex couples in the U.S. are raising children? According to the Williams Institute of UCLA, a new analysis of Census 2010 data shows that “nearly 132,000 (20%) of the nearly 650,000 same-sex couples in the U.S. identified as spouses. Data further show that 31% of couples who identified as spouses and 14% of [...]
Weekly Political Roundup
The military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy is no more—but the Department of Justice argued in court this week that servicemembers who had been dismissed under the policy should receive only half of normal severance pay, as per the regulations that existed at the time of their dismissal. The audience at the Republican presidential debate [...]
DADT Gets Decommissioned
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the law banning gay men and lesbians from serving openly in the military, is no more. The stories will be pouring in all day, but here are a few good reads to start you out: The latest issue of OutServe magazine, full of amazing stories. The very sweet story of Navy Lt. Gary [...]
Weekly Political Roundup
The Michigan House voted to ban benefits for domestic partners of all public employees in the state. The bill now goes to the Senate. North Carolina’s legislature approved a ballot measure to ask voters whether to ban marriage for same-sex couples under the state constitution. It is already banned by statute. I covered the story [...]
New Standards for Same-Sex Parents and their Attorneys in Custody Disputes
If you’ve been following news about LGBT parents for any length of time, you’ve probably come across at least one, if not several, examples of custody cases in which a biological parent tries to deny custody to a former same-sex partner and non-biological parent, claiming that the latter is not really a parent to the [...]
A Decade Later
I’ve posted a similar version of this for a few years now, but it seems appropriate to do so again. In honor of all the victims of the tragedy of September 11 and its aftermath, their families, and their friends. I will always remember, as will many of us, where I was the morning of [...]
Weekly Political Roundup
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced new guidance related to rules that protect hospital patients’ right to choose their own visitors, including a visitor who is a same-sex partner. On a related note, HHS’ Health Resources and Services Administration awarded $248,000 to the Fenway Institute in Boston, Mass., to create a [...]
“Rory’s Story” About Son of Lesbian Moms in Ireland
Here’s a great new video from Marriage Equality, an organization dedicated to achieving equal access to civil marriage for same-sex couples in Ireland. It features Rory, the grown son of lesbian moms, who discovers that his lack of a legal relationship with his non-biological mother has some very serious consequences. (Thanks to the Irish Examiner [...]
Weekly Political Roundup
Keeping it short this week, since I need to go figure out how to build an emergency shelter out of Legos before the storm hits. Hope all of you are staying safe, too. The White House and the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that same-sex spouses and partners will be considered in case-by-case reviews of [...]
Judge Tells Gay Dad Kids Can’t Stay with Husband
A gay dad whose former wife has custody of their children has been granted visitation—as long as he does not leave them alone with any man to whom they are not related “by blood or adoption.” The dad, however, remarried—he and his now-husband wed in Connecticut. As Geoff Berg of the Houston Chronicle pointed, out, “So if, for [...]
Weekly Political Roundup
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network released a legal guide for “LGBT service members, veterans, future recruits, and their families,” with an overview of laws and policies related to military service following the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. It includes quite a bit of information related to benefits for children of servicemembers, as well as benefits [...]
Son Tells of Growing Up with Lesbian Mom in 1980s and 90s
Forgive me one more story of same-sex couples in New York, but I like the perspective of this one from the New York Daily News, by a man who grew up in New York in the 1980s and 90s with a lesbian mother. Author Matt Borden writes, “Everyone knew that gay people didn’t have children. They [...]
New York Moms Marry After 29 Years
One more nice story of same-sex parents getting married in New York: Jo-Ann Shain and Mary Jo Kennedy were among the plaintiffs in the 2004-5 marriage equality case Hernandez v. Robles. They won in a lower court before the ruling was overturned by the state Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court. They finally married last [...]
Same-Sex Parents Among First to Marry in New York
Lesbian moms and grandmoms Kitty Lambert and Cheryle Rudd were among the first same-sex couples to marry in New York on Sunday, the first day they could legally do so. While there is some debate over which same-sex couple was actually the first to marry, it’s rather an irrelevant question destined for the trivia books. The [...]
Weekly Political Roundup
The biggest news this week? Don’t ask. No, really. President Obama has certified that the requirements for repealing the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell ban on openly lesbian and gay servicemembers have been met. The ban will end September 20. The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee held the first-ever hearing on repeal of the Defense of Marriage [...]
Family Equality vs. Focus on the Family
Here’s more from the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), showing how central arguments about children’s well being have been. First, Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.) takes Focus on the Family’s Thomas Minnery to task for sloppy interpretation of research about children, then Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of [...]
Conservative witness admits children of same-sex couples at disadvantage from DOMA
Here’s Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) getting Focus on the Family’s Thomas Minnery to admit, at the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), that children of same-sex couples are at a disadvantage because their parents don’t have the same financial benefits as children of married couples. (Thanks to Think Progress.)
“The American House”
Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) delivered a stirring speech today at the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on proposals to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Lewis is a lion of the civil rights movement; if you don’t know anything about him, it’s worth reading his bio to get a sense of the importance of having [...]
Weekly Political Roundup
As always, parenting/youth related news will show up in my separate LGBT Parenting Roundup. Here are some of the top general LGBT news stories of the week. It’s been a period of ups and downs for Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, as the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Friday granted an emergency order temporarily [...]
Weekly Political Roundup
A 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel issued an order that the Defense Department stop enforcing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT). The order lifts an injunction against an earlier ruling to halt DADT. The U.S. Department of Justice made the first legal filing in the country in which they have fully argued to a court [...]
