Law Extends Parental Rights for Gays
Lesbians in the District no longer will need the written consent of their partners to adopt children born to their partners through artificial insemination, under a new law that took effect Saturday.
The name of a consenting spouse or unmarried partner will appear on the child’s birth certificate as the legal parent, a status that previously had to be obtained by same-sex parents through a complicated adoption process.
The Domestic Partnership Judicial Determination Parentage Act of 2009 puts the city out front when it comes to children born of same-sex parents, according to the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington (GLAA) and American University law professor Nancy Polikoff.
See Law Extends Parental Rights for Gays
Washington Post
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Judge Declines to Stay Law on Gay Marriage
A Superior Court judge decided yesterday not to delay enactment of a law stipulating that the D.C. government will recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions.
Judge Judith E. Retchin ruled that she would not a grant a stay preventing the law from taking effect Monday, as requested by opponents. However, the effective date is likely to be delayed by the need for congressional approval. Attorneys for the group said they needed more time to research and argue their position before the law takes effect.
Opponents, led by Bishop Harry Jackson of Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, and seven other D.C. voters want a referendum on the issue, but the D.C. elections board said that would be illegal under the District’s Human Rights Act.
Although Retchin decided against delaying the law’s enactment, she said opponents could seek to amend the law after the marriage provision takes effect.
See Judge Declines to Stay Law on Gay Marriage
Washington Post
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New Delhi Lifts Colonial-Era Ban on Gay Sex
A top court in the Indian capital of New Delhi yesterday overturned a colonial-era law banning gay sex between consenting adults as the world’s biggest democracy struggles to balance tradition and modernity.
In a strongly worded statement, New Delhi’s High Court ruled that the 150-year-old statute prohibiting homosexual acts was discriminatory and therefore a “violation of fundamental rights.”
“It cannot be forgotten that discrimination is antithesis of equality and that it is the recognition of equality which will foster dignity of every individual,” the court said in a 105-page judgment.
Quoting India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, Justice A.P. Shah said: “Words are magic things often enough, even the magic of words sometimes cannot convey magic of human spirit and of a nation’s passion.”
The ruling applies only to New Delhi and to adults older than 18. But federal government ministers are also in the process of reviewing the law.
See New Delhi Lifts Colonial-Era Ban on Gay Sex
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Mennonites in Ohio protest exclusion of gays
Gay and lesbian Mennonites dressed in bright pink have gathered with others outside the church’s biannual convention in Columbus to criticize its leaders for trying to push them out.
About 100 ministers and lay people prayed, sang hymns and spoke of feeling ostracized from the church at the protest in downtown Columbus on Thursday. The “pink Menno” campaign is an effort to get the church to address the deeply divisive issue of allowing homosexuality within its congregations.
See Mennonites in Ohio protest exclusion of gays Washington Post
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Bitter loser Harry Jackson files lawsuit to force referendum against gay marriage in DC
See Harry Jackson, a Beltsville, MD preacher who is trying desperately to gain national recognition by forcing the District of Columbia’s residents to vote on the issue of same-sex marriage, and has reportedly turned to the courts to force the DCBOEE to approve his anti-gay marriage voter referendum. Based on Jackson’s repeated racially-tinged statements, he appears to believe that, because Washington is a majority African-American city, there are religiously- and culturally-based motivations for the city’s black residents to vote en masse for his socially conservative agenda. He and the pastors who speak in unity at his side have an unyielding argument that gay activists are hijacking the Civil Rights movement in an attempt to pit the interests of black community members and gay community members against one another — ignoring the obvious crossover or support that exists between them.
The DC City Council has already rebuffed Jackson and his so-called “army” of bible-waving protesters by voting twice in favor of recognizing gay and lesbian marriages that have been performed legally in other jurisdictions. The Board of Elections and Ethics also determined that that the intentions of Jackson’s referendum would not be in-line with existing ordinances. Reports indicate that Jackson and his wife, Vivian, are Maryland homeowners, but if Jackson is a legitimate tax-paying resident of DC, he has only been so for a extremely short period of time, and is possibly the roommate of another man. (No word yet on where his preacher wife is living officially.) Jackson seemed to indicate on a recent plea to Fox News, that he was the victim of computer hackers who obtained his personal residential information. His group of conservative preachers in April complained about unelected, activist judges approving of homosexual marriages, so it’s rather ironic that he is turning to the judges now to help him regain footing against the determinations made by DC elected officials and the board of elections. (Washington Post)
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Gay Couples Express Hope Over Benefits Extension
As Candy Holmes eyes retirement after 33 years of work for the Government Accountability Office, a major worry clouds her outlook.
Her partner, a clergywoman with limited health insurance, is not covered by the health or retirement benefits that Holmes receives from the federal government.
“I’ve been without benefits for my partner the entire time,” said Holmes, an information technology manager at the GAO. “Thank God we have not had any major illness. If we had, I’m not sure how we could manage.” See Gay Couples Express Hope Over Benefits Extension
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Obama To Consider Gay Pentagon Appointment
President Obama is considering nominating an openly gay man to a top civilian Pentagon post, the Washington Post reported Thursday. The president, under pressure from gay activists to live up to campaign promises he made to help secure greater rights for gay men and lesbians, is considering nominating William White to a high-ranking civilian Pentagon post. The paper did not disclose the post being considered, but White, chief operating officer of Manhattan’s Intrepid Museum Foundation, was once touted by top retired military leaders and some Democrats in Congress to be the next Secretary of the Navy. While heading the Intrepid, White has accumulated extensive contacts in the armed forces, and in 1996, he was awarded the Meritorious Public Service Award for his work with the Navy.
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In DC, Judge Asked to Block GAY MARRIAGE Decision
Opponents of gay marriage filed a lawsuit in D.C. Superior Court yesterday hoping to force a referendum on whether to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions.
The civil suit against the District’s Board of Elections and Ethics asks Judge Judith E. Retchin to overturn an election board ruling Monday that blocked a proposal to put the issue before the voters. Citing a District election law prohibiting votes on matters covered under the 1977 Human Rights Act, which outlaws discrimination against gay men, lesbians and other minority groups, the board said that a referendum would “authorize discrimination.”
The plaintiffs asked for an expedited hearing. If the court or Congress does not intervene, recognition of same-sex marriages performed elsewhere will become law early next month, at the end of the required congressional review period.
See GAY MARRIAGE Judge Asked to Block Decision
Washington Post
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China Internet filter challenged in rights uproar
A Chinese lawyer has demanded a public hearing to reconsider a government demand that all new personal computers carry Internet filtering software, adding to uproar over a plan critics say is ineffective and intrusive.
Li Fangping, a Beijing human rights advocate who often embraces controversial causes, has asked the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to allow hearings on the “lawfulness and reasonableness” of the demand, which takes effect from July 1 and was publicized only this week.
“This administrative action lacks a legal basis,” Li wrote in a submission to the ministry that was sent to reporters by email on Thursday.
“Designating that the same software must be installed in all computers affects citizens’ rights to choose.”
Li’s demand, and denunciations of the plan from Chinese rights groups, have expanded a public battle over the “Green Dam” filtering software, despite a state media effort to promote the software as a welcome way to prevent children being exposed to pornography. See China Internet filter challenged in rights uproar
Washington Post
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DC Panel Hears Arguments On Gay Marriage Referendum Washington Post -
The battle over same-sex marriage in the District moved to the city election board yesterday as supporters and opponents packed into a hearing room to debate whether the city should put the issue on the ballot.
The D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics, which currently has two members and one vacancy, will determine whether voters should have a chance in a referendum to block a bill legalizing same-sex marriages performed elsewhere.
The board heard four hours of testimony yesterday and is expected to make a decision Friday or early next week.
Both sides presented legal and political arguments about whether the same-sex marriage issue should be in the hands of voters or the politicians who represent them.
“All we are asking for is a public debate,” said the Rev. Dale Wafer, a supporter of the referendum and a minister with the Harvest, a religious community in Northeast Washington. “We are not afraid of a debate. All we want is a public debate.”
Philip E. Pannell, a longtime gay rights advocate and Democratic Party activist, accused referendum supporters of “advocating for a popular vote that will give vent to public homophobia.”
See DC Panel Hears Arguments On Gay Marriage Referendum Washington Post -
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