Family placement service encourages LGBT people to adopt
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people who are thinking about parenting are being encouraged to consider adoption and fostering by Slough Borough Council. In celebration of LGBT fostering and adoption week, the council will be holding an information evening on Friday at West 5, in Ealing, Greater London.
The event is being held at West 5 as there is no gay venue in Slough.
Jackie Pape, family placement service team manager, said: “Slough is proud to work with and actively encourages applications from couples, as well as individuals from the LGBT community.
“We’ve been working with same sex couples for more than 10 years and offer a professional and understanding service for people considering adoption and fostering.”
People can drop into the session any time between 8-10pm or can contact 0800 0730291 for more information.
Va. pastor: God's law reigns in same-sex dispute
By WILSON RING
A Virginia Mennonite pastor facing up to three years in prison says he is being judged because of his faith and conscience for helping a woman and her daughter flee the country rather than share custody of the child with her former lesbian partner.
Click the header link above to read the full article.
STUDY: As Many As 6 Million Americans Have An LGBT Parent
A new report released by the Williams Institute estimates that 37% of LGBT Americans have had a child, meaning that as many as 6 million children and adults have an LGBT parent.
“These analyses highlight the diversity and prevalence of LGBT parents and their children in the U.S.,” said the study’s lead scholar Gary J. Gates. “The data show that LGBT families are clearly part of modern American life.”
Other findings from LGBT Parenting in the United States include:
* About 39% of individuals in same-sex couples raising children under age 18 are non-white, as are half of their children —compared to to 36% of those in different-sex couples who are non-white.
* Among children under 18 living with same-sex couples, 50% are non-white compared to 41% of children living with different-sex couples.
*Same-sex couples raising children are four times more likely than their different-sex counterparts to be raising an adopted child. An estimated 16,000 same-sex couples are raising more than 22,000 adopted children in the US.
* States with the highest proportions of same-sex couples raising biological, adopted or step-children include Mississippi (26%), Wyoming (25%), Alaska (23%), Idaho (22%), and Montana (22%).
* Single LGBT adults raising children are three times more likely than their heterosexual counterparts to report household incomes near the poverty threshold. Married or partnered LGBT individuals living in two-adult households with children are twice as likely.
*More than 111,000 same-sex couples are raising an estimated 170,000 biological, step, or adopted children
*Same-sex couples are six times more likely than their different-sex counterparts to be raising foster children. Approximately 2,600 same-sex couples are raising an estimated 3,400 foster children in the US.
*The median annual household income of same-sex couples with children under age 18 in the home is lower than comparable different-sex couples ($63,900 versus $74,000, respectively).
The full report can be found here.
Kansas Supreme Court Affirms Rights of Non-Biological Parents
The Kansas Supreme Court ruled on Friday that same-sex partners who help raise children are entitled to parental rights. The case involved Marci Frazier and Kelly Goudschaal, a couple who had two children through insemination. Goudschaal was the biological mother, but both women raised the children. When the couple separated in 2008, the couple attempted to co-parent, but Goudschaal eventually cut off contact from Frazier.
A lower court ruled that Frazier had parental rights to the children, granting joint custody to both women. Goudschaal appealed this order, saying her former partner was not a parent to the children. The high court agreed with the earlier ruling and granted Frazier joint custody and declared that both women should be legally recognized as parents. The court also ruled that agreements to share custody and co-parent are enforceable.
“The Kansas Supreme Court recognized that children with same-sex parents have the same need for stability and protection as children in any other family,” Cathy Sakimura, Family Law Director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, which filed a friend of the court brief on the case, said in a statement. “We are grateful to the court for this thoughtful decision protecting the best interests of children in all families.”
Stars and Activists Align for LGBT Family Visibility
Click the header link above to read the full article.
GRAPHIC: Gay Parents on TV Through The Years
The New Normal, featuring a gay couple and their journey to have a baby, premieres this week on NBC. The show has become a target for antigay activist group One Million Moms, which claims the depiction of same-sex parents was something unprescedented on television, and symbolized “the decay of morals and values,” the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation reports.
But GLAAD counters that same-sex parents have been depicted on television since the 1970s. Check out their rundown of gay parents on the tube.
For a larger version of the graphic, check out The Advocate’s Art Department.
BYU newspaper letter compares gay parents to serial killers
TRIGGER WARNING: heterosexism, anti-gay rhetoric, slut-shaming
By Seba Martinez
For Affimration.org
Brigham Young University’s paper, the Daily Universe, published, then later removed from its website, “Crimes against Nature,” a letter in which a BYU student compared a gay parent to a prostitute or a serial killer.
Click the link above to read the full article.
Gay And Lesbian Adoptions Have Tripled Despite Persistent Discrimination
According to USA Today, “the number of gays and lesbians adopting children has nearly tripled in the past decade despite discriminatory rules in many states, according to an analysis of recent population trends” which is the possibly the best kind of Saturday news you could ask for.
“It’s a stratospheric increase. It’s like going from zero to 60,” said Miami attorney Elizabeth Schwartz who has coordinated more than 100 adoptions for gay and lesbian families in the past year. “I think many really dreamed of doing this but it wasn’t something they ever thought would become a reality.”
About 21,740 same sex couples had an adopted child in 2009, up from 6,477 in 2000, according to the Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law. About 32,571 adopted children were living with same sex couples in 2009, up from 8,310 in 2000. The figures are an analysis of newly released Census Bureau estimates.
Researchers at the New York-based Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute found the highest number of homosexuals adopted children from Massachusetts, California, New York and Texas —some of which might make sense, since their laws are generally quite liberal when it comes to LGBT folks in general, but even that isn’t always an indicator of how fairly same-sex couples are treated during the adoption process:
Tom Bourdon, 35, and his husband interviewed more than a dozen private adoption agencies when they began the adoption process two years ago. The Massachusetts couple found some agencies “didn’t really have experience working with a same sex couple and didn’t how to treat us equally.”
Once they settled on an agency, the couple created a profile that was open about their sexual orientation and desire to create a family. The couple, who were married in 2005, were matched with a birth mother five weeks later. They adopted their son in 2009 and a daughter eight days ago. Both children were born in California.
“We just wanted to be treated like any other prospective parent out there. We didn’t want it to be an issue,” said Bourdon, who works in education.
Apart from that, there are still quite a few states that prohibit same-sex couples from adopting jointly, while others just make it as difficult as possible for gays and lesbians —individual or couple— to adopt, often on the basis of “well, they’re not married!” which ignores the fact that it is often unlawful for the couple to get married. See how that works?
Virginia allows married couples and single people to adopt or become foster parents, regardless of sexual orientation, but bars unmarried couples - gay or straight - from doing so. Earlier this month, hundreds of residents weighed in on proposed regulations that would allow state-licensed groups to turn down prospective adoptive and foster parents because of their sexual orientation.
Sadly, even if the agency staff would like to work with those families, many people are saying that it’s unfair to force staffers “to go against their religious beliefs by coordinating adoptions for gay families”:
Catholic Charities refused to recognize Illinois’ new civil unions law and allow gay couples and others living together outside marriage to be foster or adoptive parents. The state tried to end its multimillion dollar contracts but a judge temporarily allowed Catholic Charities to work with the state.
“If one agency doesn’t serve you and you’re gay, then another agency will,” said Adam Pertman, executive director of the Adoption Institute. “You don’t need 100 percent agency participation. The bottom line is if you’re a qualified gay or lesbian in America and you want to adopt, you can.”
Which, although dim and flickering, is still a light at the end of the tunnel for same-sex couples and kids without homes alike.
Source: jezebel.com
Gay Adoptions Triple Over Last Decade | advocate.com
A new study shows that the number of same-sex individuals and couples who adopted children tripled over the past decade, in part because of eased state restrictions and more foster care adoptions.
The Associated Press reports on the “stratospheric increase” in adoptions shown in a four-year study of 158 gay parents released Thursday by the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute. The report found the highest number of gay people adopted children from Massachusetts, California, New York, and Texas.
Recently, Florida stopped enforcing its strict ban on adoptions by gay people, and the Arkansas Supreme Court struck down a voter-approved measure to bar same-sex and unmarried cohabitating couples from adopting.
“In the past, adoption was often an option only for wealthy gay families who could afford to adopt internationally or to pay a surrogate,” reports the AP. “Allowing gay couples to adopt from foster care, where healthcare and college is paid for, opens it up to more people, experts said. The study estimates about 50% of adoptive gay families adopt children from foster care.”
Not all adoption and foster care agencies will serve gay parents, where Catholic Charities notably refused to follow the new civil unions law in Illinois this year. About 60% of U.S. adoption agencies welcome applications from gay parents, according to the Adoption Institute.
According to the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, almost 22,000 same-sex couples adopted children in 2009, compared to around 6,500 in 2000, based on Census Bureau estimates.
Pelosi Meets With Gay Binational Couple | advocate.com
House minority leader Nancy Pelosi with Bradford
Wells (center) and Anthony John Makk
House minority leader Nancy Pelosi met Wednesday with a married gay binational couple seeking to remain together in the country as advocates continue to push for the rights of LGBT families in an evolving immigration system.
Bradford Wells and Anthony John Makk made headlines in July when immigration officials, citing the Defense of Marriage Act, denied their petition for a marriage-based green card. Makk, an Australian citizen, has been forced to “play the visa tag game back and forth,” for 19 years now — on tourist visas, then business visas up until last year, he said. Immigration Equality has appealed the denial of the couple’s petition for Makk’s permanent residency in the U.S.
The couple, who live in Pelosi’s district, have asked administration officials to put on hold the appeal of their application pending legislative repeal of DOMA or a legal ruling against it, which would allow Makk to remain stateside. They made the same plea Wednesday morning at the U.S. Capitol with the House Democratic leader and members of her staff.
“We’ve worked so hard over 20 years just to maintain a legal presence in this country,” Wells said. “If Anthony leaves, he can’t get back in. If something happens with his family, he can’t be there for them. Because he’s chosen to be here with me.”
Of the meeting with Pelosi, Wells said, “She acknowledged and heard what I said. I have no lack of confidence with Nancy Pelosi or her office. She is on top of her district.”
Last week Pelosi was one of 69 lawmakers who called on Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Atty. Gen. Eric Holder to include specific guidance on LGBT families in a working group’s review of more than 300,000 pending deportation cases nationwide. “The vulnerability of LGBT immigrants — the historical stigmatization of whom both within and outside the U.S. is well-documented — makes knowledgeable review a necessity,” the group wrote.
Though Makk isn’t currently faced with an immediate order to leave the country, the couple joins countless other LGBT couples in DOMA-induced limbo.
On Wednesday, a staffer in the office of Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, one of the leading congressional advocates for LGBT immigration rights, said Lofgren and her House colleagues hope to receive a response from the administration soon regarding lawmakers’ request for much-needed clarification.
Speaking last night at an Immigration Equality event, Florida congresswoman and Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz voiced her support for marriage-based green cards for gay binational couples to be held in abeyance.
Wasserman Schultz also slammed yesterday’s news that House Republicans had increased a cap on expenses allocated for legal defense of DOMA. “It’s colossally insensitive, but it’s also outrageous that [House speaker John Boehner] would spend time and resources defending a blatantly unconstitutional law. … It’s just unfathomable to me that they would pursue that path.”
Ebony Magazine Spotlights Black Same-Sex Couples Raising Kids in the South | glaad.org
“We’re in love,” Terry, 45, told the magazine. “We work hard and worry about our children. We have the same struggles as everybody else.”The couple met when Iesha’s sons were playing on one of Terry’s athletic teams. “About a year later, after we got to know each other, it eventually led to something,” Iesha explains. The two had a commitment ceremony in September 2005, and they have watched their family expand.The U.S. Census Bureau found that same-sex couples raising children are likely to live in the South and be African American like Iesha and Terry. According to Gary Gates, a demographer at the UCLA School of Law, black gay and lesbian parents raise children at two to three times the rate of their white counterparts. Research also shows that most black same-sex couples are economically disadvantaged (black women raising children in same-sex partnerships make an average of $26,000 a year).Writer Rod McCullom (creator of Rod20.com and GLAAD National People of Color Media Institute participant) also points out that while six states and the District of Columbia have marriage equality, none in the South have marriage for all loving and committed couples. The lack of protections puts families like Iesha and Terry’s at risk. The parents, for example, cannot jointly adopt their children.
Ebony, a monthly magazine that focuses on the African-American community, features the story of Iesha McConnell and Terry Treadwell, a couple raising three children together in North Carolina, in their October issue.
We applaud Ebony for highlighting diverse stories about family. GLAAD encourages other media outlets to follow Ebony’s strong example of including stories of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people of color that spotlight the rich diversity of our community and the issues that affect our lives.“We are a family, and we love each other deeply,” Terry adds. “We are making it work.”
Be sure to pick up the October 2011 issue of Ebony (on stands now).
ACTION ALERT!! Tell President Obama: Stop Separating Our Families!!
Tell the White House to keep Bradford & Anthony and Frances & Takako — and other LGBT families — together!
We’ll send a fax directly to President Obama and Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano, and add your name to a petition calling on the Administration to halt the separation of LGBT families. The White House counts every fax, every signature – your participation makes a difference.
The government has denied the green card application that Bradford Wells, an American, filed for his Australian partner of 19 years, despite their legal marriage and strong ties to the U.S. This follows the heartbreaking story of Vermont native Frances Herbert and her Japanese partner, Takako Ueda, another married couple who are facing imminent separation after more than a decade together.
We need relief for these families and every family. Tell the government to stop ripping families apart.
Bradford & Anthony and Frances & Takako recently told their stories to CNN. Now, you can add your voice to theirs, and take a stand for all LGBT families.
Click the link above to take part in the petition.
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 and Mombian for posting.)
HRC: WE'RE ALL RIGHT: Kids of LGBT Parents Speak Out
We’re All Right:
Kids of LGBT Parents Speak Out
Last month, 19 year-old college student Zach Wahls had a simple message for the Iowa state legislature: his moms were lesbians, and he was perfectly ok. His parents were not so different than anyone else’s - together, they formed a loving, stable family. Zach’s message sounds self-explanatory, but many anti-LGBT groups push harmful rhetoric, saying children who are not raised by a married mother and father will grow up with hardships and problems.
The powerful stories here can change the country, one video at a time. Here’s how you can help:
- If you have LGBT parents, record a video with your story and upload it to YouTube, then post it on our wall.
- If you don’t, share these videos with your family, friends and colleagues.
