Date: Sun, 28 Dec 1997 20:38:24 -0500 From: Jim Fagelson Subject: Parents' Network December 28, 1997 GLPCI PARENTS' NETWORK December 28, 1997 a publication of the Gay and Lesbian Parents Coalition International 1997 IN REVIEW According to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, as many as 75 GLBT family-related measures were introduced in nearly 40 state legislatures in 1997, a slight increase from the previous year. While the vast majority of these bills were related to marriage, an increasing number were related to domestic partnership issues and adoption and foster care. In Texas, one of these bills became law. It stipulates that only a man and a woman can be listed as parents on a birth certificate. NGLTF will monitor state legislative activity throughout 1998 and expects even more such measures to hit. Also in Texas recently, a state adoption worker improperly removed a foster child from the home of a lesbian couple simply because they were lesbians. The child has since been put back into the care of the women. It's also worth noting that in the Hawaii same-gender marriage case, the state's major argument was that gay men and lesbians do not make suitable parents. The court's rejection of this argument is indicative of the ongoing shift in public opinion on this issue. A ruling in this case is expected soon, and it's predicted it will be in favor of same-gender marriage. In a soon to be published NGLTF report on the economic status of gay and lesbian people in the U.S., Professor Lee Badget of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, documents that nearly as many lesbians and gay men have children living at home as do heterosexual men and women. In one survey, 31 percent of lesbians and 23 percent of gay men had children under 18 living at home, compared to 37 percent of heterosexual women and 33 percent of heterosexual men. In another study 67 percent of lesbians were parents compared to 72 percent of heterosexual women. The gap was wider between gay and straight men in this same study, showing that 27 percent of gay men and 60 percent of straight men were parents. Nevertheless, both studies illustrate that many gay men and lesbians are parents. January *Lacey, WA enacts anti-discrimination ordinances protecting gays *Tumwater, WA enacts anti-discrimination ordinances protecting gays *Over 200 polities now have laws banning anti-gay discrimination covering 1/3 of the US Population *Openly gay congressman Kolbe (R-AZ) chairs appropriations subcommittee *Travis County Texas swears in nations first out lesbian sheriff February *Christian Coalition denounces bombing of lesbian bar *Washington marriage ban vetoed March *Alaska court grants DP benefits for University of Alaska *First US Senator grants DP benefits for staffers *Bank of America announces DP benefits *St. Louis enacts DP registry *NY court expands gay parents' adoption rights *West Hollywood, CA elects gay majority to city council *Gay/Lesbian liaison to President gets status boost to "Special Assistant" April *"Ellen" becomes first gay prime time lead, wins time slot *Arizona enacts hate crimes bill protecting gays *RI, WA, CA, LA anti-marriage bills all fail *Catholic Church calls homophobia a sin, says celibate gays are "holy" *Gay candidates win municipal elections in San Mateo and Redwood City CA, as well as Oak Park and Erie Illinois. *SF 49ers become first pro sports team with DP benefits *Several studies confirm lesbians make good mothers *IL court strengthens lesbian adoption/custody in state *Court strengthens Chicago's anti-discrimination law *Court upholds New Jersey gay civil rights law May *Anti-marriage bills die in conservative Texas and Nebraska *Santa Barbara, CA gains DP registry *DNC announces DP benefits *University of Washington adds DP benefits *St. Petersburg Times adds DP benefits *City of Chicago adds DP benefits *Chevron Oil adds DP benefits *Northern CA's major utility company adds DP benefits *Alabama ban on gay school clubs struck down June *Clinton issues pride proclamation, first ever from US President *Ohio court rules sexual orientation should not affect adoptions *Florida court upholds lesbian "pre-nuptial" agreement *Colorado anti-marriage bill vetoed for 2nd time *Los Angeles unified school district adds DP plan *City of New Orleans adds DP benefits *Blue-Cross, HealthNet and PacificCare add DP coverage to insurance plans *Historic San Francisco Domestic Partner benefits law goes into effect July *Virginia court OKs lesbian adoption *Wells-Fargo adds DP benefits *Union Bank adds DP benefits *Ellen receives 5 Emmy nominations *Gay and lesbian weddings OKed at Harvard chapel *Federal court strikes down ban on gays in US military (it is under appeal) *Hawaii statewide DP registry/benefits take effect August *For Better of for Worse with gay subplot runs in 1000+ papers *Focus on Family co-founder apologizes to gays *More gay characters on TV than ever, GLAAD reports *American Psychological Association condemns anti-gay "therapy" *Florida court OKs lesbian adoption September *Nebraska court rules in favor of lesbian in custody case *MediaOne adds DP benefits *Recent report shows 1-3 companies add DP policies every week *MA court makes gay parents' adoptions easier *Michigan State adds DP benefits *Judge in Chicago upholds DP benefits law *Upjohn Corporation adds DP benefits *Pharmacia Corporations adds DP benefits *Knight-Ridder adds DP benefits *Oak Park IL enacts domestic partnership registry October *EDS (Ross Perot's company) Offers DP Benefits *New Jersey rules in favor of allowing gay couple to adopt *Philadelphia Public Schools add DP benefits *First openly gay ambassador nominated by President *Lexinton Herald-Leader offers DP Benefits *Mass. court rules for gay male couple in adoption case November *U. of California system (USA's largest state university system) approves domestic partnership plan. *Emory University opens up its chapel to gay weddings (Harvard did this earlier in the year) *North Carolina court rules in favor of gay father in custody case for 2nd time *Georgia Supreme Court affirms Atlanta domestic partnership plan *Founder of largest gay Christian denomination honored at White House. *A US President addresses gay rights group dinner, first time ever. *Gay candidates win 83% (12 of 15) elections on Election Day 1997. *Reform Judaism (US largest branch) passes resolution in support of same-sex religious and civil marriage. December *NJ first state to allow joint adoption by gay couples *Duke University gives benefits to same-sex partners of grad students *Salt Lake City bans discrimination against gay city employees *Ypsilanti, MI passes gay civil rights law *Newton, MA passes domestic partnership law *Pacific Exchange becomes first US Stock exchange to offer DP benefits *Gay candidates win runoff elections in Houston and Atlanta. *Madison, WI public school district grants DP benefits. *Athens, OH passes gay civil rights law NEW YORK A new regulation is out saying that sperm banks licensed by the State of New York are prohibited from accepting gay donors or even storing a gay man's sperm at his own expense. This regulation affects most sperm banks in the United States because most ship sperm into New York because it is such a big market. To ship into New York, out of state sperm banks need a New York sperm bank license. Therefore, the State of New York's regulations are not only interfering with the reproductive rights of lesbian and gay New Yorkers but of lesbians and gays all over the country. Lesbians who wish to use gay donors or to co-parent with gay men and want to bank their sperm are not able to do so. If these regulations have affected you the Lesbian, Gay, HIV division of the ACLU is interested in talking to you. If you are interested call the ACLU 212-549-2627. NEW JERSEY While New Jersey is the first state to have a state court say that gay and unmarried couples should have the same adoption rights as married couples, the following states have also allowed gay couples to jointly adopt, however, these were individual cases and are not state laws: CA, PA, DC, WA, WI, MA, and VT VERMONT On Friday afternoon, December 19, Chittenden County Superior Court Judge Linda Leavitt dismissed, without a hearing, the historic case of three Vermont same-gender couples suing for the freedom to marry. The Vermont Supreme Court will review the entire case de novo/from scratch, including the Superior Court's rulings that: there is no fundamental right to marry under the VT Constitution; that sex discrimination receives heightened scrutiny in Vermont (a first) but that there is no sex discrimination in marriage; that sexual orientation does not receive heightened scrutiny, but only rational basis review; and all 7 of the justifications offered by the State under the rational basis standard. The judge embraced the case as one which must be decided in the courts and not simply referred to the Legislature as the Attorney General had argued. Even more heartening was Judge Leavitt's statement that the plaintiffs had presented "compelling arguments" and her conclusion that six of the seven reasons the Attorney General offered to justify discrimination were invalid, speculative, difficult to grasp and without common sense or logical basis. Nonetheless, the Judge ruled the State's discrimination against same-gender couples in marriage could be justified by the State's interest in "furthering the link between procreation and child-rearing." The Judge accepted the State's claim that marriage provides a favorable environment for raising children. The briefs in the case to date, and the decision soon, can be found at http://www.fitzhugh.com/samesex.html -- this is the website of Vermont lawyer Josh Fitzhugh who is not affiliated with the case. The plaintiffs have 30 days from Friday to file their notice of appeal. Briefs should all be filed by mid-Spring, 1998. SWEDEN (Wockner News Service, December 8, A Swedish man married under that nation's gay partnership law has filed suit with the European Court of Justice's Court of First Instance demanding that his employer, the European Union Council of Ministers, grant benefits to his husband. Gay-marriage laws in Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden grant all rights of matrimony except access to adoption, artificial insemination and church weddings. The man, who chose not to be identified, says the council's inaction violates European law, the council's own staff regulations and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. TEXAS (Houston Chronicle, December 24, 1997) An 8-month-old baby from Dallas who bounced from home to home during a dispute over homosexual adoptions has landed in the arms of relatives in Chicago, state officials said Tuesday. The infant's uncle and aunt, Eugene and Taneen Helm, who already are parenting the child's 4-year-old twin sisters and three orphaned cousins, took custody of the boy on Monday when Texas child care workers delivered him to the Helms at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. "It was a great occasion," said Stewart Davis, a spokesman for the state's child protective services. "The family first went by their church to introduce the baby to the minister and congregation, and then they went home," where caseworkers from Texas visited for a couple of hours. In August, the child became the unwitting pawn in a squabble over the appropriateness of allowing gays to adopt or provide foster care in Texas -- a dispute that is expected to result in a 1999 legislative battle over homosexual adoptions. The dispute arose when Rebecca Bledsoe, a CPS supervisor in Dallas who is opposed to placing children with homosexuals, rescinded an earlier CPS decision to place the boy with a lesbian couple who were already caring for two children. Bledsoe ordered the boy transferred to another foster home, but that decision was overruled and the boy was returned to the lesbian couple. The infant remained with that couple until his trip to Chicago. CPS administrators who demoted Bledsoe said she violated procedures when she unilaterally removed the boy from the temporary foster care of the lesbian couple. But Bledsoe, a 10-year employee with exemplary performance ratings, responded with a grievance claiming she was unfairly removed from a supervisory role because she irked gay and lesbian CPS workers who advocate homosexual adoption rights. Roger Evans of Dallas, a lawyer for Bledsoe, said she was merely looking out for the child's best interests. "My client and I hope that no other child will be put at risk in that way again," he said. That comment drew a rebuke from Stephen Scarborough, a gay-rights advocate with the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund's Southern Regional office in Atlanta. "The placement in that (lesbian) home did nothing but benefit that child. There simply is no risk in placing a child with a gay or lesbian person," the staff attorney said. "It's particularly offensive because they use this rhetoric of being concerned about the child, and it's apparent that's the last thing they're concerned about." CPS' goal is "to meet the needs of the child," and that sexual orientation of potential foster care-givers is not a criteria when assessing their ability to meet those needs. ___________________________ To SUBSCRIBE, send an e-mail message to glpcinat@ix.netcom.com saying "subscribe Parents' Network", To UNSUBSCRIBE send an e-mail message to glpcinat@ix.netcom.com saying "unsubscribe Parents' Network" and you will be removed from the list. ICQ: 2457661