Kentucky anti-gay adoption bill advances

(Frankfort, Kentucky) Legislation that would bar unmarried couples in Kentucky from adopting or fostering children has passed a key committee and now advances to a vote on the floor of the Senate.

The measure states that anyone “cohabitating with a sexual partner outside of marriage” cannot be considered as a foster …

Kentucky Panel backs bill to bar adoption by unmarried couples

FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Senate Judiciary Committee gave unanimous approval this afternoon to a bill that would ban unmarried couples from adopting children or becoming foster parents in Kentucky. See Panel backs bill to bar adoption by unmarried couples Louisville Courier-Journal

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Challenge to Arkansas gay adoption ban continues

(Little Rock, Arkansas) Attorneys for a dozen families who are challenging an Arkansas law banning unmarried couples from becoming foster or adoptive parents have asked a judge to deny a state motion to have the lawsuit dismissed.

Voters approved the ban last November. The families involved in the legal challenge are …

Bill would ban adoptions by unwed couples

The state had an infant, 2 weeks old, 10 weeks premature, HIV positive and abandoned at a hospital. The child wasn’t expected to live long but needed 24-hour care and parental nurturing.

Would they take the baby, asked the social worker who had evaluated and approved them for foster care.

“That was a Friday. We garage-saled all weekend and picked him up that Monday,” Morgan said. The couple later adopted the boy.

“Now we have this beautiful, healthy, happy, totally normal 18-year-old son. You tell me — what’s wrong with that?”

Morgan said he and his partner were the first openly gay couple to adopt in Tennessee.

If bills introduced in the Tennessee House and Senate this session succeed in the state’s new, Republican-dominated legislature, unmarried couples — gay and straight — could be barred from adopting.

People on both sides of the issue say their primary concern is the welfare of children. But that’s where the agreement ends about who should and should not be able to adopt in Tennessee.

The bills’ advocates say that Tennessee law was never intended to allow unmarried couples to adopt but that the state attorney general and Department of Children’s Services interpreted it incorrectly.

It’s clear children belong in “traditional” families, they say.

But those who oppose the bills say they would leave more children lingering in a state system that has made strides since a court ordered Tennessee to more swiftly connect eligible children with adoptive families.

“Remember that children in foster care don’t typically have a line of people going around the block waiting to adopt them,” said Adam Pertman, executive director of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute.

See Bill would ban adoptions by unwed couples

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Colorado Senate approves partner bill

(Denver, Colorado) Despite a heated debate in which one Colorado state senator linked homosexuality to murder, the Senate has approved a domestic partner bill.

The legislation would make it easier for unmarried couples in Colorado, including gays and lesbians, to make medical decision for incapacitated partners and leave property to their …

Domestic partnership bill heading to Senate – In New Mexico!!!!

A proposal giving same-sex couples the same legal protections and benefits as married couples cleared a difficult legislative hurdle and is headed to the Senate for a vote.

The measure allows for domestic partnerships for unmarried couples, including gay couples.

See Domestic partnership bill heading to Senate
El Paso Times – El Paso,TX,USA

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Utahns backing gay rights

While Utahns aren’t ready to let gay and lesbian couples exchange wedding vows or enter civil unions, most are willing to give them broader legal rights to inherit property, visit a partner in the hospital and ward off employment discrimination.

A Salt Lake Tribune poll finds that 56 percent of Utah voters support increased legal protections for same-sex couples — a potential boon for Democratic state lawmakers who intend to introduce a package of gay-rights bills this legislative session.

However, the poll shows overwhelming opposition (70 percent) to any changes to the Utah Constitution that would allow same-sex partners to enter civil unions. Utahns, 54 percent of them, also are wary of letting unmarried couples, including gay and lesbian partners, adopt or foster children.

See Utahns backing gay rights
Salt Lake Tribune, United States -

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Kevin de León Introduces Bill Would Allow Unmarried Same-Sex Couples to Avoid Property Tax Increases Upon the Death of a Loved One

SACRAMENTO—Assembly Member Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles), Chair of the Assembly Appropriations Committee, introduced Assembly Bill 103 today, which would allow two people, including same-sex couples, who co-own a home together to avoid an unfair property tax increase upon the death of one of the co-owners. The bill is nearly identical to an EQCA-sponsored measure that passed the legislature last year but was vetoed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Under existing law, whenever there is a change in home ownership the home is reassessed at its current market-price value, and the new owner must pay property taxes based on that value. Individuals are excluded from this law if they are the spouse, domestic partner, or relative of the deceased. However, this exclusion does not protect co-tenants who are unmarried or unrelated, making same-sex couples particularly vulnerable to losing their homes when a partner dies. AB 103 would protect unmarried couples from the unfair burden of increased taxation when one partner takes over property ownership.
“Without this legislation, surviving partners are subject to unfair property tax reassessments that could force them out of the home they have lived in for years, if not decades,” said EQCA Executive Director Geoff Kors. “This situation is especially tragic for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender seniors who may not have retirement plans or supportive family members to rely on in times of need. This difficult economy and the high foreclosure rate make matters even worse,” Kors said.
“This is an important step to protect unmarried individuals when they are most vulnerable, after a loved one dies,” stated Assembly Member de León. “Without this legislation surviving partners are faced with the unfair burden of increased taxes on their homes, forcing some people to have to give them up. That is an appalling situation; people who live together and are unmarried, whether by choice or because of the law, should be treated equally to married couples.”
Board of Equalization Vice Chairwoman Betty T. Yee stated, “I applaud Mr. de León and Equality California for championing this important measure. It acknowledges the true diversity of families and households in California and will keep homeowners, particularly elderly individuals, in their homes when their co-owner dies.”
To qualify for the exemption, the bill will require that co-tenants have lived together in the home for at least one year. The bill next moves to the Assembly Rules Committee and will be heard in a policy committee in early Spring.
EQCA works to achieve equality and secure legal protections for LGBT people. To improve the lives of LGBT Californians, EQCA sponsors legislation and coordinates efforts to ensure its passage, lobbies legislators and other policy makers, builds coalitions, develops community strength and empowers individuals and other organizations to engage in the political process. www.eqca.org

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Arkansas battles suit to strike down restrictive adoption law

(Little Rock, Arkansas) More than a dozen families are challenging a new Arkansas law banning unmarried couples living together from becoming foster or adoptive parents.

The Arkansas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of the families in Pulaski County Circuit Court seeking to overturn Act …

‘Day without a gay’ protest fizzles

Activists had billed Wednesday as “a day without a gay,” when gays and lesbians across the country would call in sick, boycott shopping and show the impact of their absence from everyday life.

Designed to be a protest against the Nov. 4 passage of Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage, the day’s events drew only scattered support in the Bay Area, the heart of the gay rights movement, and also criticism.

Several gay and lesbian people said they couldn’t afford to take the day off, particularly in a tightening economy where many are concerned about their jobs. And in the Castro district, business owners were livid that people were encouraged to not shop during the holidays, a peak time for retailers.

“Our rights have been taken away as much as anyone else’s,” said Rich Boutell, who runs Whatever comics on Castro Street and whose marriage was thrown into limbo with the Nov. 4 election. He and his husband, Cougar Andrews, kept their store open and wished the “day without a gay” organizers had encouraged gay-allied individuals to patronize gay-owned businesses. “The whole purpose should be to support your own, not to boycott. If you’re going to have a protest, it should be a positive thing. The gay dollar is powerful.”

Those who did take off work said they did it with the cooperation of employers.

They included Glenn Coffee, 48, a Noe Valley resident who works at Macy’s and said the store has always been supportive of gay employees and the gay community. The main purpose, he said, of calling in sick was to show that “as a community, we can show we have worth.”

The day’s events prompted a mixed response, which might indicate that the gay rights movement is still finding its voice. Gay and lesbian people are included in ways never imagined decades ago, such as domestic partnership rights in states across the nation and being included by a presidential candidate in his election-night victory speech.

But there are also dramatic challenges. Thirty states, including California, explicitly ban same-sex marriage, and Arkansas voters recently passed a ballot measure to ban unmarried couples from adopting children, an initiative directly aimed at thwarting gay and lesbian parenthood.

Religious groups, students, business owners and shoppers all had different views of a day focused on gay rights.

A group of Bay Area Catholics gathered in the Castro district on Wednesday evening for a prayer vigil to atone for the actions of church leaders. Because Wednesday was also International Human Rights Day, they focused their efforts on the rights of gays and lesbians.

‘Day without a gay‘ protest fizzles
San Francisco Chronicle, USA