The heart of the Perry case and why LGBT families should not distance themselves from single mothers

If supporters of Prop 8 have standing to appeal Judge Walker's order in Perry v. Schwarzenegger (even though the state did not appeal it), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will decide whether Prop 8 violates the federal constitution. If you listened to the oral argument yesterday, you heard the term "rational basis" used a lot. That term means something in constitutional law. Every time the

The NY Times should not be the last word on marriage and health

As soon as I saw the New York Times article on marriage and health I knew exactly where to turn next -- the blog of Bella DePaulo, a psychologist whose work most convincingly debunks the so-called health advantages of marriage. I was not disappointed; she had responded to the piece when it first appeared on line last week. Her response also refers back to her previous well-documented posts

Perry v. Schwarzenegger -- week three preview -- the defendants will make it about gender

The argument that children need to grow up with a father is not an argument aimed primarily at lesbian couples raising children. It's the argument at the core of the right-wing "marriage movement" whose agenda includes federal funding for a "marriage promotion" industry, restrictions on no-fault divorce, and increased stigma for births outside marriage. The primary tenet of this movement is that

News from Lavender Law -- the latest adoption/foster parenting bans

It's not called Lavender Law anymore, but I can't help myself. (Sixth Ave will never be Avenue of the Americas to me...). Its official name is the National LGBT Bar Association Career Fair & Conference, but by any name this is the annual gathering of LGBT lawyers, law students, and law profs (and some straight advocates who work on our issues). This year's conference is taking place in

New from the Alternatives to Marriage Project

It's always a good day to check out what's happening with the Alternatives to Marriage Project. They recently expanded their on-line resources with more facts, experts, reports, etc to counter the dominance of the "marriage movement" position that the decline of life long heterosexual marriage is responsible for all our social problems. They are also in the forefront of a growing movement to

TANF reauthorization next year -- the stakes are high

President Clinton signed "welfare reform" right before the 1996 election; he signed DOMA during the same period. The first reauthorization, during the Bush administration, added the funding of "marriage promotion," which Obama is continuing. The next reauthorization must occur by September 2010.Now comes an important report from the feminist legal organization Legal Momentum, demonstrating an

Pressure needed to end federal funding of marriage promotion

Thanks to Dana Rudolph for pointing out this article on Obama's continued funding of marriage promotion. The article, by Amy DePaul, quotes with no attribution from a letter I wrote on behalf of several opponents of continued funding. My blog about the letter, with a link to it, is here. Obama's 2010 budget eliminates abstinence-only sex education, but there is a huge overlap between the groups

More opposition to Leah Sears

I was shocked at the Washington Post's above the fold front-page story last Sunday about Georgia Supreme Court Justice Leah Sears as a possible nominee for the US Supreme Court. I have blogged twice in the past about Justice Sears's unsuitability.I sent a letter to the Post, which they did not publish, so I'm posting it here:Leah Sears doesn’t belong on the US Supreme Court, and it’s not because

End federal funding of marriage promotion: Part I

The Obama agenda is filled with many ideas that will help LGBT families, like equal adoption rights, repeal of DOMA, and extension of federal recognition for civil unions. He also supports comprehensive sex education. But he has been silent on the federal funding of marriage promotion, a topic of many of my posts.So this post is the first of a periodic series on ending that funding. Obama wants

Not Leah Sears on the US Supreme Court!

Just a day after my post on the right-wing "marriage movement" conference at the Georgia Supreme Court, an article by Justin Jouvenal at salon.com named Leah Sears, the court's Chief Justice, as a possible contender for a seat on the US Supreme Court.This would be a disaster for LGBT families. As a board member of the Institute for American Values, Leah Sears is a core part of a movement that

THE RIGHT-WING "MARRIAGE MOVEMENT:" IDEOLOGY MASQUERADING AS EDUCATION AT THE GEORGIA SUPREME COURT

Thanks to Nan Hunter for alerting me to an astonishing "marriage movement" event, a "summit on marriage and family" co-hosted by David Blankenhorn's Institute for American Values and the Georgia Supreme Court. I am horrified that a body with the power to rule on the well-being of children with LGBT parents, namely a state supreme court, is giving its imprimatur to one of the most vocal

ARKANSAS ADVOCATES FOR CHILDREN NEED YOUR HELP!

With the presidential campaign front and center and the votes on marriage in California, Florida, and Arizona getting lots of attention, I'm worried that the fight over adoption and foster parenting by unmarried same-sex and different-sex couples in Arkansas is being overlooked. This would be truly a tragedy -- mostly for the children of Arkansas. But it would also be an unwelcome boost for the

BLOG ACTION DAY: ENDING POVERTY -- PROMOTING MARRIAGE IS NOT THE WAY

We really could end poverty if we wanted to....Unfortunately, for the past eight years the government's primary strategy for ending poverty has been "marriage promotion." The right wing reiterates the lie that all of our social problems -- including illiteracy, homelessness, substance abuse, violence, infant mortality, chronic illness, crime and, of course, poverty -- are caused by the decline in

UPCOMING FEMINIST CONFERENCE ON MARRIAGE AT UCLA

I'll be speaking later this month at a conference at UCLA called, "State of the Union: Marriage in the Shadow of Electoral Politics." It's sponsored by the Center for the Study of Women, with co-sponsorship by, among others, the Williams Institute, the country's pre-eminent gay rights research center.If you're familiar with my book you don't need to come to hear me, but some of the other speakers

MARRIAGE FOR 17-YR-OLD BRISTOL PALIN -- HOW 1950's!

Sarah Palin's 17 year old daughter, Bristol, is pregnant. So why no uproar from conservative Christians (as Sarah Palin describes herself), or from those abstinence-only sex-education Republicans?? Because she's marrying her boyfriend, Levi Johnston, that's why!How 1950's! That's the decade that saw a peak number of teenage pregnancies (the national teen birth rate reached a peak in 1957, at 96

AN ARKANSAS INITIATIVE THAT MUST BE DEFEATED!

After a hiatus for my summer vacation, I'm back...and with some urgent news. Arkansas voters will have an initiative on their November ballot that, if it passes, will ban all unmarried couples from adopting children or becoming foster parents. That's right. An unmarried heterosexual couple will have to marry, and a same-sex couple will be completely boxed out. (The initiative makes clear that

WHAT'S IN THE NAME?

Another book about marriage came to my attention this weekend: "The Marriage Benefit: The Surprising Rewards of Staying Together, by psychologist Mark O'Connell. The title sounds close to that of "The Case for Marriage," Linda Waite and Maggie Gallagaher's book that I blast in my book for its "marriage promotion" propaganda and that Bella DePaulo skewers in her book, "Singled Out."So imagine my

THE LIES BEHIND "MARRIAGE PROMOTION"

The bus shelters in my city, Washington, DC, are plastered with full-length posters of brides and grooms and simply stated messages like "Married people earn more money" and "Marriage works" and "Kids with married parents do better in school." This public relations campaign is one more example of "marriage promotion," the activities that the federal government funds to the tune of $750 million.