Sen. Ross Romero introduced a bill in Utah that would allow any unmarried couple living together to adopt a child. 

Any two people living together, married or unmarried, could become the legal parents of a child, Romero explained. Perhaps his most controversial example includes “sisters who move in together” as people who could become a child’s two legal parents. 

Balkan says the bill would have substantial impact on the state’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual community by allowing them to adopt. But Romero says the bill is more than just about LGBT rights, but about parental rights, gay or straight.

“What this bill says is ‘I know what is best for my child and it will be judged on what’s in the best interest of the child,’” Romero explains.

Romero says the parent could be able to designate a co-parent to raise the child, whether that person is a sister, brother, or significant other. 

It’s very unlikely this will pass, but certainly still worth talking about. What do you all think?

Lawmakers in Mexico City legalized adoption by same-sex couples about a year ago. But so far, only one same-sex couple has requested permission to adopt. From the Advocate:

Polling in the country show a potentially inhospitable atmosphere for the parents with widespread disapproval of gay adoption, according to Latin America News Dispatches. Mexico City is the only place in the country where adoption is allowed, and Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled in 2010 that adoptions there must be respected elsewhere. And the slow process to adopt is, as it is almost everywhere, strewn with red tape.

The number of married couples in Mexico who might qualify to adopt isn’t huge, but it’s slowly growing. In August, Mexico reached its milestone 1,000th same-sex wedding. 

What’s the deal here? Should we be concerned about this?

A couple in Canada has decided not to tell the world the gender of their 4-month-old baby, Storm (pictured on the right). Only the baby’s brothers, a family friend and the midwives who helped deliver the child know the baby’s sex.

The parents say it’s unfair to children to consider gender a crucial part of their identity, pointing out that if you want to get to know someone, you don’t first ask “what’s between their legs.”

Obviously they’ve gotten mixed feedback. Some people think it’s a good thing to let Storm decide his or her gender identity when he or she is ready. Others say the parents are exploiting their child in a sociopolitical experiment. Check the article linked above for a detailed profile on the family, and an additional article for interesting and controversial reader comments. 

What do you think? Is it appropriate to raise a child “genderless”?

House lawmakers yesterday introduced the Every Child Deserves a Family Act, which would ensure that adoption agencies receiving federal funds would not be allowed to discriminate against LGBT families.

Sponsored by Rep. Pete Stark of California, the bill would make sure gay and lesbian parents had the right to adopt children, as well as making sure a child’s sexual orientation or gender identity did not affect whether he or she was to be adopted. 

“We simply cannot afford to exclude millions of prospective parents willing to take these children simply because of their sexual orientation, marital status, or gender identity,” Family Equality Council executive director Jennifer Chrisler said in a statement.

As it should be. The current adoption system tends to be quite heteronormative, and this should help. 

ni-c-cola asked: I'm a lesbian what are my options of having kids when I'm ready, with my Girlfriend?

You’ve got plenty of them! You can do at-home fertilization, basically with a friend’s sperm and a turkey baster. You can undergo the same process at a doctor’s office, with sperm from a known or unknown donor. You can do in vitro fertilization, or, depending on your state, you can adopt. After any of these, there’s a lengthy process for whichever of you isn’t the biological parent to become an adoptive parent; as long as you have a good lawyer, it’s manageable. The details are more complicated, but this is the best summary I can give. Lots of couples have done it and you can too. Thanks for the question and thanks for reading! 

We can give them points for trying…maybe.

The U.K.’s Equality and Human Rights Commission has recommended children be asked about their sexual preference starting at age 11. Those who appear to be questioning should have their responses recorded and their sexualities kept on file.

This really twisted idea would apparently be a way to keep LGBT kids from becoming victims of bullying. According to the release, kids could be asked about this without parental consent. 

Okay, what?

How will this fix anything? Picking and choosing kids who are “questioning” or deemed gay at a young age is basically further separating them from other kids and making them seem less normal. Not to mention this is a gigantic invasion of privacy, will probably result in lots of inaccurate information, and probably could do little to stop bullying.

Why target the victims? Why not implement strategies to teach bullies about diversity and, oh, I don’t know, NOT bullying, rather than picking out potential targets? This is absolutely crazy.

Thoughts?

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand recently announced she’s planning to introduce a bill barring adoption discrimination against same-sex couples, though it may not come up for a while. The Washington Blade reports:

A Senate Democratic aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Senate supporters of the legislation are developing a strategy for success over the coming months, but for time being Gillibrand is focused on building momentum for bills introduced this week that would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.

In the previous Congress, Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) introduced in the House legislation known as the Every Child Deserves a Family Act, which aimed to bar adoption discrimination against LGBT families. As it was previously written, the bill would restrict federal funds for states if they have laws or practices that discriminate in adoption on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

This could be really good, guys. Check back for updates as they start to happen, in a good while. (Please let this happen.) 

Sparked by a recent case in Illinois, faith-based foster care agencies may have to redetermine the methods by which they choose parents for children in need. 

Last year a gay couple tried to adopt a son through the Lutheran Child and Family Services, an agency which, though faith-based, receives funding from the state. Similar cases have come up with other agencies that are technically religious, but get some kind of public funding. The Huffington Post reports:

The controversy spurred DCFS to converse with LGBT advocates in concert with the governor’s office and state attorney’s general office to “begin to resolve the legal issues” surrounding the gay parent-barring policies of LCFS, Catholic Charities and the Evangelical Child and Family Agency. The possible result of these conversations will likely come down to a choice for the agencies involved: Change their policy and allow for openly gay and lesbian people to be licensed as foster parents or lose state funding.

So, what do we think will happen here? Will these agencies realize the error of their ways and change their policies to be less discriminatory? Will they opt to lose state funding in favor of their principles? Will absolutely nothing change?

Luke Herbert is 15 years old, a freshman in high school, and gay. He gets bullied sometimes - by students AND a teacher.

Herbert reported that his teacher singled him out and mocked him for being gay. The teacher wouldn’t let Herbert put a soda in the same school refrigerator as other students’ drinks. 

“He stood in front of the class and said ‘you can’t put Mountain Dew or Pepsi in the same fridge or they’ll turn gay’. He [also] came over to me and I was like ‘hi.’ He said hi, like he was imitating me or mocking me,” Herbert said.

The school has done little to acknowledge Herbert’s and his family’s complaints, and the family is pursuing a lawsuit against the school district. Herbert is considering homeschooling.

What the HELL is this? 

Have we not realized that this kind of taunting and discrimination is what leads to LGBTQ youth suicide? Can we no longer look up to teachers as role models of tolerance and, dare I say it, intelligence? Do we really live in a country where this is acceptable and goes unnoticed by a school district? 

I’m speechless.