New York Court Gives a Damn about Gay Parents

May 04th, 2010 11:49 AM By Admin

The following is an excerpt from a story posted today on NYTimes.com:

“New York State’s highest court ruled in two cases Tuesday that nonbiological parents involved in same-sex relationships have rights similar to those of biological parents.

“In one case, the court, the Court of Appeals found that a woman is entitled to seek child support from her former partner, who is not the biological mother of a child the couple raised together before they separated.

“The ruling was 4 to 3.

“In the second case, the court ruled that a woman can seek visitation rights from her former partner because she is a legal parent, even though she is not the child’s biological mother. The two women entered into a civil union in Vermont.

“The ruling was 7 to 0 that the nonbiological parent, referred to in court documents as Debra H., had parental rights.

“The rulings reflect the Court of Appeals expanding affirmation of rights for gays and lesbians. The court has generally ruled that short of same-sex marriage — which it has said should be approved by the State Legislature — gay and lesbian couples can enjoy a broad range of legal protections.

“While same-sex marriages are not legal in New York, the state does recognize same-sex unions performed in other states. The Court of Appeals has so far rejected legal challenges to out-of-state gay unions.”

Read the rest of the NYTimes.com article >>

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Gay Adoption Expansion Rejected by Louisiana Senate Panel

Apr 28th, 2010 10:11 AM By Admin

The following is an excerpt from a story by Bill Barrow of The Times-Picayune at NOLA.com:

“Lengthy and passionate testimony in the Senate Judiciary A Committee [yesterday] ended with a 3-1 party line rejection of a measure that would have expanded gay adoption in Louisiana.

“Senate Bill 129, which ended up as a combination of two measures by Sens. Ed Murray and J.P. Morrell, would have allowed unmarried couples to jointly adopt and allow an existing parent to petition a court to add a second adult as a legal parent. The bill would have applied regardless of the adoptive parents’ sexual orientation, but the debate centered on the rights of gay parents and their children.

“Louisiana law restricts adoption to married couples or single individuals, meaning gay couples or unmarried heterosexual couples can adopt but must choose which adult has parental rights.

“The debate pitted the Forum for Equality, a gay rights advocacy group, the American Civil Liberties Union and other adoptive parents, including New Orleans City Council President Arnie Fielkow, against a long list of primarily religious interests: the Louisiana Family Forum, the Conference of Catholic Bishops and representatives of Louisiana Southern Baptists.

“Gov. Bobby Jindal’s office also registered the governor’s opposition to the bill, though no one from the administration testified.

“Kelly Bryson of New Orleans asked lawmakers to approve the bill so that she and her partner, Erika Knott, can ‘complete our family.’ Bryson and Knott gained custody of a Louisiana foster child, William, before Hurricane Katrina. Knott adopted the boy in Louisiana. With the couple living in Maryland immediately after the storm, Bryson successfully petitioned for a second parent adoption. Knott has since adopted, again in Louisiana, William’s biological brother Jeremy.

“Bryson told senators the she ‘dreads the conversation when Jeremy asks why William has two parents and he doesn’t.’ And she noted that she has no legal relationship with Jeremy, meaning she cannot make health decisions for him and that he has no dependent inheritance rights should she die. ‘He is entitled to both of his parents,’ she said.

“Fielkow, who with his wife adopted two Ukranian-born girls, said, ‘We talk about family values a lot in this country. To me, family values is not putting up more barriers to adoption; it is encouraging adoption.’

“John Yeats, representing the Louisiana Baptist Convention, said that the bill was a back-door attempt to enshrine gay unions. He warned lawmakers that ‘if we allow marriage to become a homosexual institution’ society would lose words like ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ to designations like ‘partner’ and ‘unmarried couple.’

“The Rev. Louis Husser of Crossgate Church in Robert said, ‘This bill is nothing more than social experimentation using our children as guinea pigs.’”

Read full story at NOLA.com >>

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Arkansas Adoption Ban Overturned

Apr 16th, 2010 05:42 PM By Admin

As reported by The Associated Press:

“A Pulaski County circuit judge has overturned Arkansas’ law banning unmarried couples living together from adopting or fostering children.

“Circuit Court Judge Chris Piazza said in a two-page ruling Friday that people in ‘non-marital relationships’ are forced to choose between becoming a parent and sustaining that relationship.

“Piazza agreed with claims by families who said the ban lessened the number of available adoptive and foster parents to the point where thousands of children could go without homes.

“He said the ban cast ‘an unreasonably broad net’ and did not serve the state’s interest.

“The law was approved by voters in 2008. The American Civil Liberties Union sued on behalf of a group of families seeking to overturn the ban.”

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White House Easter Egg Roll

Apr 05th, 2010 10:46 AM By Admin

As posted on Gay Rights at Change.org:

“Each year, the sitting U.S. President hosts an Easter egg hunt on the grounds of the White House, bringing together families from around the country for some colored eggs, baskets and bunnies. And though it sounds like a simple and cute event, it’s actually the largest public event that the White House holds each year, bringing 30,000 people total from around the country to attend.

“This year, the White House Easter Egg Roll takes on extra significance for LGBT families. And it’s not just that there will be LGBT families in attendance — that’s happened for quite some time, even under George W. Bush’s administration. It’s that this year, one of the families invited is at the center of historic litigation in Florida, challenging the state’s ban on LGBT adoption.

“Introducing Martin Gill, the North Miami man who is fighting the state of Florida so that he can adopt two young brothers — two children that he and his partner have been providing foster care to for years. In November 2008, a judge ruled that the state of Florida had no right to refuse Gill’s attempt to adopt the two children, essentially labeling as unconstitutional a Florida ban on gay adoption that has been termed the worst adoption law in the country. The case is on appeal, as Florida’s Third District Court of Appeals prepares to weigh in with a ruling.

“But the White House isn’t waiting for a decision in order to place their bets. By inviting Gill and his family to this year’s Easter Egg Hunt, the Obama administration has definitely sent a message to the state of Florida: you’re hurting children by preventing LGBT folks from adopting.

‘Inviting us, knowing that we are plaintiffs in this lawsuit, sends a pretty strong statement,’ Gill said of the White House’s decision to invite his family. ‘It’s extremely gratifying. What we’ve been through in the state of Florida has been somewhat of an ordeal.’”

Read More >>

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• Watch an NBC Miami interview with Martin Gill discussing the White House’s invitation.
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For the Love of My Children

Apr 04th, 2010 12:35 PM By Cheryl

I am a straight mother of three. I have a thirteen year old straight son who plays tuba and guitar,and wants to work in the tech field when he grows up. I have a seventeen year old straight daughter who plays baritone, has a beautiful singing voice, and wants to go to college to become a psychologist. I have a nineteen year old gay son who is broadly musically gifted, attends college, and wants to be a teacher. While my younger son and daughter will very possibly achieve their dreams, my oldest son may not. So, I give a damn.

Where we live, and where my son wants to teach, being openly gay will likely cost him his job. While my two younger children’s teacher’s can share stories of their husbands, wives, children and lives, if my son does so, parents will complain to the school board that my son is teaching their children immorality. But he hasn’t given up on his dream. He’ll be attending his second year of college next year to become a teacher, in hopes that when he begins teaching, his sexuality won’t matter to his students and their parents as much as his qualifications do. So, I give a damn.

My oldest son is in a committed relaionship with a wonderful boy who spent years in R.O.T.C., in hopes of becoming a flight engineer. He felt it would be not only wrong, but incredibly difficult to keep their relaionship a secret due to D.A.D.T., so unfortunately he chose to leave the R.O.T.C. This young man should have NEVER had to make such a choice. His sexual orientation shouldn’t have had to play a part in what he wanted to do with his education, and his life. So, I give a damn.

My children talk of the day they will be parents. I have no doubt that all three will be excellent at parenting. My younger son and daughter will be able to do so with no trouble. While if my oldest son and his committed partner want to adopt, they will likely be denied that right. So, I give a damn.

I want the opportunities my two straight children have, to be available for my gay child. I want to not have to worry that my son might be a victim of a hate crime. When my son chooses to commit his life to someone, I want to know that he’ll have the same rights and protection as a straight couple would. Most of all, I want my children to see and believe what I have taught them their entire lives; that you can grow up to be anything and anyone you want to be.

So, I GIVE A DAMN!

21st Century Hatred

Apr 04th, 2010 12:31 PM By Patrick

In 2000, my partner of 7 years and I began the process of adoption here in California, working with a well-known attorney. We’d tried unsuccessfully a couple times. Then on a Saturday morning in October we got a call that changed our lives: “Are you still looking to adopt?” asked a woman on the other end of the phone. “Yes”, we replied. “I’m having a boy – he’s half-black. Is that a problem for you?” she asked. “Not at all. We’re a gay couple, is that a problem for you?” we asked in return. “Not at all. But I’m giving birth in a couple days, is that a problem for you?” she replied.

That’s how our adoption journey started. We immediately went to Babies-R-Us and got way too much stuff – not knowing how to be parents with no prep time. We got on a flight and went to her town for the birth. BTW – she was in a small town in the South.

We got to the hospital just in time for the birth and spent that first day trying to bond with this new child AND get a crash course in parenting from a wonderful nurse at the hospital. We were so blissfully unaware of the setting that we didn’t hear people questioning why 2 guys were in the nursery. So the nurse found a small room (read: closet) that we could be in to bond.

Cut to the next day. We came into the hospital and immediately there were 3 Sheriff’s deputies with guns out that pushed us into a room and told us we had to leave the county because death threats had come in against us, the mother and the child. We ended up leaving the hospital without saying “goodbye” to the mother or the child we now felt was ours. We went into hiding in a small motel outside town where the owner sat in front of our room with a shotgun. (Remember – this is the year 2000 – not the year 1960…)

Long story short – we spent 2 days trying to figure out how to do this adoption while not being able to see our son or the mother. She ended up leaving the hospital clandestinely carrying the child she went in to give up. We met up and ended up getting onto a plane with a woman who’d never flown, and a 2-day old baby, and coming back to California so we could do the adoption in friendlier surroundings.

The fact is that as a white, upper-middle class, educated male I’d never really felt discrimination – even once I came out. Taunts, some slurs – sure. But hatred, bigotry, threats, death – those things never really crossed my mind.

Today our son is a thriving 10-yr old and is the coolest, most self-confident kid I know. But while our story has a happy ending, it doesn’t for THOUSANDS of kids in this country. So, we’re here because we GIVE A DAMN that this kind of hatred be taken out of the discussion. Kids need loving parents, period. So if this story, and our voices can help this dialogue we are here for the duration!

My Story

Apr 04th, 2010 12:19 PM By gina

Well, the quickest way to tell you why I care about equality of gays, lesbians, etc is because my mom is a lesbian. I have known since I was about 8. It is as normal to me as if she were married to my father. She actually had been in a relationship since I was 5 until I was 17. And, has now been in another for four years.

It angers me when people say gays and lesbians can’t be parents or shouldn’t be. I know many straight people who should think twice about having kids. My mom is an incredible woman and deserves to be treated by EVERYONE as such no matter who she loves!!!!