A federal court in Louisiana has ordered the state registrar to recognize the New York adoption of a baby boy by same-sex couple Oren Adar and Mickey Smith; otherwise, the court said, the state would be violating the U.S. Constitution, according to a Lambda Legal press release. Lambda Legal filed suit on behalf of the couple in 2007, saying that the registrar violated the Full Faith and Credit Clause ( which says that states have to respect the "public acts, records, and judicial rulings" of other states ) of the U.S. Constitution by not acknowledging the adoption.
The Williams Institute—a research center on sexual orientation law and public policy at UCLA School of Law—announced two new reports from the "The U.S.A. National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study ( NLLFS ) ," a 22-year study that followed planned lesbian families with children conceived by donor insemination. Among the findings was that the children are as healthy and well-adjusted as those raised in heterosexual families.
In a recent statement of answers to questions posed by the New York Times, Caroline Kennedy—who is seeking to replace Hillary Clinton in the U.S. Senate—said that she "supports full equality and marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples." In addition, Kennedy said that she is against restrictions on abortion rights.
Lesbian singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge and her wife, Tammy Lynn Michaels, have written a pair of articles that defend the Rev. Rick Warren, President-elect Barack Obama's pick to deliver the inauguration's invocation, according to EDGE Boston. In a blog entry edited and re-published by the Chicago Sun-Times, Michaels stated, " [ Etheridge ] spoke to him on the phone beforehand, giving us insight into the man the media has made our latest 'HE HATES YOU!' target. If I sit real still and think about it, it's almost like reverse smear-the-queer."
In Texas, Jennifer Gale, a trans homeless person who unsuccessfully ran for more than a dozen political offices in Austin and Dallas, was found dead Dec. 17 outside an Austin church, according to the Dallas Morning News. Among other things, Gale ran for the mayor of Dallas in 2007, finishing ninth in an 11-candidate field. A free spirit, Gale, 47, often addressed city councils and similar political bodies in song.
In Pennsylvania, Shawn Quinnones—a trans, HIV-positive former inmate—has been sentenced for up to eight years and six months in prison for spitting on a corrections officer, the Associated Press reported. Quinnones was convicted of assault, aggravated harassment and reckless endangerment.
In California, a lesbian was allegedly kidnapped and gang-raped by four men in the San Francisco suburb of Richmond, leading some people to be concerned about a possible rise in anti-gay violence because of Prop 8, according to EDGE Chicago. The suspects are wanted for sexual assault, robbery, kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon and carjacking; police are offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to the alleged offenders' arrests.
The Rev. Ted Haggard—the evangelical leader who was caught up in a gay-sex scandal two years ago—has agreed to help promote The Trials of Ted Haggard, a documentary about his life following that event, the Associated Press reported. HBO is slated to air the documentary—directed by Alexandra Pelosi, the daughter of U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi—in January.
In Arizona, Travis Reiner has been cleared by a court after it was determined that he was not one of four men who assaulted two gay men after a Flagstaff gay-pride festival, according to the Associated Press. Police are calling the attack a hate crime.
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