Swiss edge closer to gay adoption

Switzerland's upper house of parliament, the Council of States, decided on Wednesday by 21 votes to 19 to give same-sex couples the right to adopt children.

The Council determined that anyone should be able to adopt a child, regardless of their choice of lifestyle, so long as such adoption would be in the best interests of the child, Swiss news agency SDA reported.

In addition, although the type of marriage would not be a determining factor, applicants seeking to adopt must be in some form of registered partnership.

Those in favour of the change in regulations have pointed to the changing face of family dynamics, and the reality that many children do not grow up in what would be considered “traditional” family constellations.

Urs Schwaller of the Christian Democratic Party said that, while he did not doubt that gay and lesbian people could take of children as well as heterosexuals, there was in his view no need to give them rights to adopt, gay information website GGG.at reported.

Conservative politicians are concerned that the rights of registered partnerships are becoming increasingly aligned to those of traditional marriages, gradually eroding the status of marriage. Schwaller maintained that this is not what the Swiss people want, the website reported.

The lower house, the National Council, must now consider the motion before it can pass into law.

- The Local .

Related articles

• Same-sex adoptions nod for Tasmania (itsaqueerworld.blogspot.com)
• Penguin (Gay) Parenting: Lessons for Gay Adoption (itsaqueerworld.blogspot.com)

Gay adoption: New York leads way, but Gillibrand pushing for national reform

Gay adoption: New York leads way, but Gillibrand pushing for national reform:

"New York's junior senator is pushing federal legislation to lift the ban on gay couples and individuals adopting children.

Between New York's same-sex marriage act and the repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, the momentum is there for the needed reform, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said.

"This legislation would open thousands of new foster and adoptive homes to children ensuring they are raised in loving families," Gillibrand said of her "Every Child Deserves a Family Act.""

NY Daily News

President Benigno Aquino III "respects gay marriage", but.......

President Aquino's statement of "respect" for gay marriage is welcome - but don't expect wedding bells for same-sex couples in Manila any time soon. The country's Catholic bishops wield powerful political influence - the government is struggling even to pass legislation to make contraception more freely available to the poor who most need it, and the country is now the only one where there is no legal provision for divorce. Gay marriage would simply be a bridge too far.

Still, there is a clear shift in secular sentiment, and in time, marriage equality will surely come -  even to the Philippines.

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III said he respects the rights of gay couples to get married but admitted that he has reservations if the couple wants to adopt a child.

“I don’t think I’m ready to tackle that fight right now… But the perspective, and I really would have to take quite a lot of… it is their choice,” Aquino said in an interview in New York during the Asia Society Forum Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila).The President stressed that he has no problem in gay relationships as long as they don’t trouble anybody.However, on the issue on adopting a child, Aquino seems hesitant on the welfare of the child.“Normally I would say, you’re adults, you should be able to do whatever you want so long as it doesn’t hurt anybody else. But if the next step is we want the right to adopt, then, I would be in a dilemma,” he said."

-Sun.Star

Court Defends Gay Workers from Arizona Gov’s Attempt to Strip Benefits

 "A bill signed by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer tried to take away the family benefits that predecessor Janet Napolitano provided, via executive order, for the families of the state’s gay and lesbian employees.

But a decision from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an injunction against the bill, ruling that to target one group for the loss of benefits enjoyed by everyone else is a violation of equal protections set out in the U.S. Constitution.

Brewer signed a bill to strip benefits from same-sex families two years ago, in September of 2009. Napolitano had provided those benefits via executive order the year before. The bill also sought to deprive straight domestic partners of benefits, as well as grown offspring, reported local newspaper the Arizona Republic in a Sept. 6 article.

"When a state chooses to provide such benefits, it may not do so in an arbitrary or discriminatory manner that adversely affects particular groups that may be unpopular," the unanimous verdict, issued by a panel of three judges, said."

 EDGE Las Vegas

Gay marriage and adoption movement launches in New Zealand

 Today, New Zealand will Legalise Love.

Legalise Love, a movement to supporting gay marriage and adoption in New Zealand, has launched today.

As well as promoting the acceptance of non-heterosexual New Zealanders, Legalise Love will help Kiwis fight the legislative inequalities they face, which stop us from being an equal nation.

As a nation at the forefront of human rights, it's hard to accept that in New Zealand, we aren't all equal.

Voxy.co.nz

A look at gay adoption

"It has become almost impossible to get from cover to cover in an LGBT magazine without being confronted by advertisements that claim to assist the community in creating a family. Countless services declare their ability to make the process not only seamless, but also, in their glossy spreads, glamorous. Photographs of cute, giggling babies veil the serious side to starting a family.

And what are these advertisements offering? Rarely adoption. These agencies want to make money. Purchase a womb in the form of a surrogate, purchase some sperm, purchase a turkey baster (or rather, ‘insemination kit’); purchase pretty much anything one needs to create a baby. What gets forgotten, however, is the option of starting a family with a child that already exists. There is a danger of people who read these magazines getting the impression that adoption no longer happens. The gay press undoubtedly has a responsibility to recognise the fact that, due to their need for revenue, they are in danger of becoming responsible for a trend in expensive surrogacy and co-parenting arrangements when there are a great many children in care who need to be adopted. It is a particularly important issue to address, when the process is now simpler than ever for gay people.

Read the full report at So So Gay

Yet Another Court Victory for Gay Marriage, Family Equality:

In barely a week, there have been four important court judgements in three American countries that represent important victories for gay marriage and family equality. Immediately after the celebrated judgement in California striking down Proposition 8, the Mexican court ruled that the legal provision for gay marriage in Mexico City was fully constitutional. Yesterday, that same court ruled that marriages in Mexico City must be recognized, and the associated benefits granted, right across all Mexican states. Also yesterday, the court in Costa Rica ruled that a proposed national referendum on civil unions, may not go ahead. There may well be another important advance coming within days: the Mexican court is due to pass judgement on a matter concerning gay adoptions, possibly as soon as tomorrow.

Superficially, the Costa Rican decision may appear the least significant of all three decisions, but I disagree. Although it concerns only civil unions, not full marriage, and the population numbers affected are relatively low, this decision was explicitly based on a fundamentally important matter of principle: the rights of a minority cannot be decided by a majority vote.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="269" caption="A Rainbow Future for Costa Rica"][/caption]

The Constitutional Court's 5-2 decision released Tuesday says such a referendum would put a minority at a disadvantage in a largely Roman Catholic country. It also says gay civil unions is a legislative issue and not an electoral one. The court says it considers homosexuals a group that is at a disadvantage and the target for discrimination, requiring government authorities to protect their rights.

It is still too early to say what is the future for gay marriage in Costa Rica. There may be no progress in the short term, or the legislature may feel emboldened by the progress in Argentina, coupled with this decision, to move ahead.

Whatever the Costa Rican politicians decide for now, one thing is clear: across Latin America, the momentum is now on the side of family equality. Sooner rather than later, same sex marriage and gay adoption will spread right across the continent - and the Catholic church will be no more able to prevent it than they were in Argentina. Then, faced with a fait accompli, the bishops in the region with more Catholics than any other, will have to work with the reality all around them.

Gay Adoption Passes Final Hurdle in NSW

After the original narrow passage in the lower house of the New South Wales Parliament, it's been somewhat of a to and fro struggle, but the bill has now finally passed. New South Wales has joined ACT (Australian Capital Territory and Western Australia) in providing for adoption by same sex couples.

Typically, the difficulties concerned attempts to deal with religious objections. The original bill passed in the lower house only after an amendment to provide for some exemptions for religious bodies. In the Upper House, a conflicting amendment was passed to narrow the scope of those amendments, requiring that the bill return to the Lower House - then back to the upper house again.

A BILL giving same-sex couples the right to adopt has been passed by the NSW parliament, after the Legislative Council voted in support of a last-minute amendment to the legislation.

The bill passed its final hurdle in the upper house just after 6.30pm (AEST) today, after MPs backed the lower house amendment.

The amendment, made by Planning Minister Frank Sartor, frees up adoption agencies to act on the wishes of parents regarding where their children are adopted. It was made to temper changes made in the upper house on Wednesday night, which narrowed an exemption from the Anti-Discrimination Act for faith-based adoption agencies. MPs have been allowed a conscience vote on the historic legislation, leading to heated debate in both houses of the NSW parliament. NSW is now the third state or territory to allow same-sex adoption, after the ACT and Western Australia.

-Read more

The "Impact" of Iowa Marriage Equality - Findings From Evidence.

One important feature of Judge Walker's verdict in the Prop 8 trial was his finding that the case against marriage equality rested on claims, of the "harm" done by same sex marriage and the supposed threat to children is based on no evidence whatsoever. The substantial evidence that does exist on gay parents, and the experience from Manhattan and the Netherlands where marriage is well established, is that there is indeed no demonstrable harm - to between sex marriages, or to the children of same-sex couples.

Now yet another independent survey, this one from  Iowa, shows the same finding. "Iowawatch" is an online news service for The Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism, an independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan news service. Their researchers conducted interviews with married couples and professional experts, and examined extensive published urnal articles, marriage statistics, census data, polls and court rulings.

The conclusion? There is no "harm" - at least no more than from the between sense marriages they so closely resemble. These are extracts from an extensive report at Press Citizen:

Oz State Premier Stands Up To Cardinal Pell, Secures Gay Adoption for NSW.

Breaking news today is that the New South Wales state assembly has narrowly approved a bill to put LGBT and heterosexual couples on an equal footing for adoption procedures. There are still a few hurdles to clear before this becomes final, but (as far as I can tell), with this one, the biggest has now been cleared. This is big news for queer Catholics. The formidable Cardinal Pell made clear his strong opposition - but the equally strong support of the Catholic NSW Premier, Kristina Keneally, appears to have been decisive in providing just enough resistance.

Kristina Kenneally, Catholic and Advocate for Adoption Equality

Perhaps it was the full-fledged backing given to the Bill by New South Wales Premier Kristina Keneally, a devout Catholic, which took the wind out of the sails of opponents. "In forming my position on this Bill, I have considered my experiences as a mother, my responsibilities as a parliamentarian and my conscience as a Christian and member of the Catholic faith," she told lawmakers. Instead of proving divisive, it served to unite New South Wales's main political outfits with Opposition Liberal Party leader Barry O'Farrell also voting in its favor.

-RTT News

Court reinstates Arizona partner benefits ?

Judge Blocks Arizona’s Termination of Domestic Partner Benefits

Among the first policy changes pushed by Arizona’s legislature as soon as Republican Janet Brewer succeeded Janet Napolitano (D) as governor was to pass House Bill 2013, which changed the definition of “dependent” to specifically exclude domestic partners and adopted children of gay individuals, effectively ending insurance coverage for the families of gay state employees. This move came despite denials from Arizona’s Prop 102 promoters that the state would not remove domestic partner benefits if the amendment banning same-sex marriage was added to the constitution. Prop 102 was approved by Arizona voters in 2008.

This week, U.S. District Judge John Sedwick granted a temporary injunction against the state of Arizona from implementing the new law:

“Because employees involved in same-sex partnerships do not have the same right to marry as their heterosexual counterparts, Section O has the effect of completely barring lesbians and gays from receiving family benefits,” Sedwick wrote. “Consequently, the spousal limitation in Section O burdens state employees with same-sex domestic partners more than state employees with opposite-sex domestic partners.”

- Full report at Box Turtle Bulletin 

Argentina Approves Family Equality.

It's been a long night waiting for confirmation, but Argentina has just become the latest country, and the fourth strongly Catholic country, to approve family equality, even in the face of vigorous, highly visible,  opposition by the Catholic  Church. (Note that I do not describe this as "gay marriage". The legislation which has been approved includes much more than just provision for same -sex marriage.)

What is particularly pleasing to me was that while the political argument in favour was based on human rights grounds, many of the supportive politicians made clear that their support was because of their Catholic faith, which emphasized the importance of respect for those human rights.

In their marathon debate, a number of senators in the 72-member upper house referred to their Catholic beliefs in presenting their reasons for opposing or supporting the bill.

-Momento24

Even some priests declared publicly in favour of the law. It is surely significant here that Argentina is in South America, birthplace of liberation theology - and hence a strong influence in gay liberation theology, about which I will be writing for publication tomorrow. (The theologian Marcella Althaus-Reid, who took her thinking beyond gay liberation theology to queer theology and to "indecent" theology, was from Argentina. Her writing is deeply influenced by her Argentinian background, and its history of struggle against colonialism, patriarchal oppression, and injustice of all kinds.
Elsewhere in Latin America, gay marriage is recognised in Mexico City, and civil unions in Colombia and Uruguay. Argentina now becomes the first in the region to approve full equality on a national level.  It will not be the last.

(For the record: the number of countries with full marriage equality has doubled in the past eighteen months. Last January, there were just five countries with legal recognition for same sex marriage. Since then, that  with Norway and  Sweden  joined them last year, and three already - Portugal Iceland and now Argentina -in the past six months. Asia is now the only continent wit no recognition, but Nepal has promised it.)

From Reuters:

Argentina Senate Passes Gay Marriage Bill 

Argentina's Senate passed a gay marriage bill early on Thursday, clearing the way for the country to become the first in South America to allow same-sex couples to marry.

Following more than 14 hours of charged debate, during which thousands of Argentines protested outside the Congress, the upper house voted 33-27 for the proposal, with three abstentions.

"I believe this has advanced equal rights," Senator Eugenio Artaza told reporters after the debate in which many lawmakers in the upper house invoked their Roman Catholic beliefs to explain their stance.

Opinion polls show a majority of Argentines support gay marriage, but there is less backing for same-sex couples to adopt children.

The Argentine president's backing for the bill, which also gives homosexual couples the right to adopt children, has pitted Fernandez against the influential Roman Catholic Church a year before a presidential election.

Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, archbishop of Buenos Aires, had raised particular concern about the adoption clause of the bill, saying it was important to ensure that children had as role models "both a father and a mother."

Argentina, Gay Marriage: Priest Barred From Celebrating Mass

In Argentina, the Senate is debating a law to approve full equality for all families. A priest who has openly declared support for the law has now been barred by the bishops from celebrating Mass.

I suppose this is not a surprise. The Catholic bishops have been fierce in their opposition to marriage equality in Argentina, encouraging major protests yesterday to protest the proposal, while Fr José Nicolás Alessio hit the news earlier as spokesman for a group of priests declaring public support for it. What is noteable in the latest twist, is Fr Alessio's stated reasoning, and his determination to meet his commitments to the community by defying the bishops, and saying Mass regardless.

I was always taught in Catholic schools that there could be no obligation to obey unjust laws or commands. Catholic teaching is clear that where a decision is determined in good conscience, it must take precedence over external authority. Fr Alessio's position is a sound, very Catholic one - but I don't suppose the bishops will see it quite like that.

Meanwhile, if I have correctly interpreted the somewhat garbled English in a separate report from Momento24, it would appear that the Senate have rejected a compromise proposal for civil unions. This means that the only proposal which will now be debated (probably tomorrow) will be the proposal for full family equality. In that basis, I guess it looks likely to pass.

From Momento24:

Priest José Nicolás Alessio was sanctioned by the Archbishop of Cordoba due to his position in favor of gay marriage.

The sanctions consist of the prohibition on offering Mass and weddings. “I am surprised and very hurt because I never thought that the Bishop of Cordoba (Carlos Náñez), who appeared more open to the position of the Argentine bishop in these prohibitions, cut off heads who think differently,” Alessio said. “I have commitments to my community. I believe more in the Gospel that in these canonical codes, so this weekend I will celebrate Mass, unless they put me prisoner, “the priest added. Alessio works in the parish of San Cayetano and is willing to challenge the sanction even if “he can make another ‘crime’ when it celebrates Mass, because the first was by thinking differently and the second will be for being faithful to my community.”