Prop 8 Overturned

According to the Twitterverse, Prop 8 has officially been overturned, on the basis that the anti-gay marriage proposition is unconstitutional. A sample from the judge’s ruling:

“Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license. Indeed the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California constitution the notion that opposite sex couples are superior to same sex couples.”

I leave you with this:

prog·ress

1 a (1) : a royal journey marked by pomp and pageant (2) : a state procession b : a tour or circuit made by an official (as a judge) c : an expedition, journey, or march through a region

2 : a forward or onward movement (as to an objective or to a goal) : advance

3 : gradual betterment; especially : the progressive development of humankind

Posted by:

Sean Gardner

Children of Lesbian Parents May Do Better Than Their Peers

In a new study published in Pediatrics journal, researchers Nanette Gartrell and Henry Bos found that “children in lesbian homes scored higher than kids in straight families on some psychological measures of self-esteem and confidence, did better academically and were less likely to have behavioral problems, such as rule-breaking and aggression.”

The data was taken from “planned lesbian families”, or households where both mothers identified themselves as lesbian and went through artificial insemination.

The study also found that “children in same-sex-parent families whose mothers ended up separating did as well as children in lesbian families in which the moms stayed together.”

One theory presented was that lesbian parents tend to be very involved in their children’s lives, although that is not exclusive to lesbian households. Parenting that involves communication about social differences and prejudices are more of a priority in same-sex families which also may influence the findings.

Gartrell is a professor of psychiatry at the University of California at San Francisco and a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. Bos is a behavioral scientist at the University of Amsterdam. Both have been studying gay and lesbian families for 24 years.

Posted by:

krysten

We Do Read The Newspaper, Obama. Thanks.

Big shout out to a former LYVEF employee! Last night, Kip Williams, co-founder of the gay rights group GetEqual, called out on Obama on Don’t Ask Don’t Tell during a fundraising speech for Barbara Boxer.

The President’s response was disappointing, at best. He told Kip that he should “buy a ticket to a guy who doesn’t support his point of view, and then you can yell as much as you want there”, and that he must “not be reading the newspapers”.

There’s no point in yelling at “a guy who doesn’t support” repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell when there’s a guy who does and has the power to make it happen but just isn’t doing it.

Check out Kip’s letter about the exchange and join the call for Obama to issue an Executive Order repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell!

Posted by:

Rachel Bishop

Breaking News: Clarence Thomas May Be A Lesbian!

Let’s look at the facts. Clarence Thomas is not married. He’s pretty stout. Look at that haircut. He went to college in Massachusetts, which we all know is a hotbed of lesbianism. And no one has ever issued an official statement that he isn’t a lesbian.

All of this is to say, I don’t give a rat’s ass whether Elena Kagan is a lesbian or not, and I think it’s pretty weird that it’s not just conservatives who are obsessing over the question. People are relying on a pile of rumors and stereotypes that don’t apply any better to Elena Kagan than they do to Clarence Thomas. And even if she is a lesbian, Obama’s clearly not making any bold statement about gay rights by appointing her, as the administration is denying it.

So let’s all get over it and talk about her actual qualifications. Not only is the lesbian question a stupid distraction from the real questions at hand, but it’s forcing all of us to think about Supreme Court Justices naked, and that’s some pretty dangerous territory.

Posted by:

Rachel Bishop

Fulton, Mississippi holds a fake prom for its famous lesbian

le sigh. I haven’t been doing a great job lately staying up on my home state Mississippi news, but just saw this factoid which is a couple days old though my outrage feels fresh:

After a federal judge ruled in her favor, Constance McMillen, a lesbian student at Itawamba Agricultural High School in Fulton, MS, took her girlfriend to the big event last Friday. Only problem: The big event was a sham. McMillen, along with only five other students, two with learning disabilities, was tricked into attending a “fake prom.” As documented on Facebook, the rest of the senior class held a secret parent-organized prom some 30 miles away.

Constance McMillen, you may recall from Biko’s earlier post, is a very brave young woman who happens to be a lesbian in an area of the country that is struggling to adopt its traditional (archaic/bigoted, yes, sometimes) family values to the realities of life today.

I still love you, MS, but listen: the future of our state is in the black and white and brown and yellow hands of the young gay and straight and undecided men and women and transgendered people who by blood and birthright call you home.

Wake Up!

Posted by:

Sam Patton