protect children

Writer Shannon Connolly, who's spending the year abroad in Paris, responds to Prop. 8's passage: To those who voted 'Yes on Prop 8', let me tell you something. I was a child once. No one told me what it meant to be gay. No one told me that the word 'family' can have many different meanings and manifestations.

Arkansas judge Christopher C. Piazza ruled on Friday that the state's ban on gay adoption is unconstitutional. The law was approved in 2008 by 57% of the voters and was initially proposed to protect children from abuse and neglect because children do better when raised in a traditional family setting with married parents.

David Bahati, the Ugandan parliament member who authored the bill that calls for the execution of gay people, told Rachel Maddow that he intends to protect children from being recruited into homosexuality, but he could not produce any facts. Bahati, who spoke from Washington, D.C., said he had been granted a visa to attend a conference in the United States, but the event denied him entry over his bill. The bill, which is still pending in parliament, would impose life imprisonment for homosexual acts and the death penalty for instances of “aggravated homosexuality.”

A column written by a woman raised by lesbian moms argues her upbringing was harmful.

Pro-LGBT Dear Abby comes up with a lovely solution for the heartbroken granny.

New York state has expanded the rights for gay and lesbian parents. New York's highest court ruled in two cases Tuesday that nonbiological parents involved in same-sex relationships have rights similar to those of biological parents. In one case, the court ruled unanimously that a woman can seek visitation rights from her former partner because she is a legal parent, even though she is not the child's biological mother. "In many ways this is a real breakthrough in New York."

Always one to stand up for what she believes in, whether its LGBT rights, not conforming to the pop princess mold, or protecting her child from the incessant invasion of paparazzi. The Grammy-winning singer writes an open post on her official blog asking how comfortable we all really are with this “celebrity-obsessed culture.”

Last April, the Maine Legislature successfully passed a marriage bill that Governor John Balducci signed into law in May.  And now the anti-gays, (you know, like NOM and the "Gathering Storm" ads) have the issue back on the ballot again under the moniker of Question 1, an attempt to re-ban gay marriage for all Mainers.  Sound familiar? A look at how some Mainers seek to strip gays and lesbians of marriage rights.

Lawyers for Children, an organization that offers free legal and social work advocacy to abused children, is one of the organizations in the running for Lady Gaga’s $1 Million grant. Lady Gaga is working with the Robin Hood Foundation to aid the homeless youth of the Big Apple. The other organizations competing for the grant are SCO Family of Services, The Door, Safe Horizon and the Hetrick-Martin Institute.

The Arizona house and senate are considering companion bills that would require school officials protect LGBT students from bullying. "We are grateful that Senate Minority Leader David Schapira and Rep. Katie Hobbs, along with many of their colleagues in the legislature, are committed to giving every child in Arizona a fair chance to succeed in school," Equality Arizona board chair Tom Mann said in a press release.

The birthplace of one of the greatest Mormon prophets, former LDS Church president Gordon B. Hinckley, is up for sale. The owners, according to the Salt Lake Tribune: a lesbian couple, Cristy Gleeve and Keri Jones (who together have a daughter named Glory).