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• Update: Kentucky Adoption Ban Left to Die after Opposition from Foster Alumni; Constituents

  "Every year, one out of ten foster youth in Kentucky are turned out into the world with no family and no place of belonging that is so critical for young people's success and well-being. More than 500 youth age out of foster care having never found families before becoming adults...I can assure you children without families would welcome the caring permanent presence of any loving, qualified, stable adult."These were the words of Read More... Posted Mar 23 2009, 10:59 AM by Shannon LC Cate with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: alternative families, Shannon LC Cate, same-sex parents, foster children, aging out of foster care, kentucky adoption ban

• Challenge to Arkansas Adoption Ban Okay'd by Judge

  A judge ruling in a challenge to the Arkansas voter-approved ban on unmarried couples fostering or adopting children told an ACLU lawyer that the his claim that the ban violates constitutional rights to equal protection is a compelling one. The ACLU argued before the judge that not only Read More... Posted Mar 18 2009, 02:04 PM by Shannon LC Cate with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: Shannon LC Cate, same-sex adoption, Arkansas Adoption Ban, same-sex parents, foster care system, foster families

• Census Woes: Defining Parenthood

  It's census time again, folks, and you know what that means! Lots and lots of us trying to fit ourselves into a limited range of government-defined categories, whether on race, family structure, or goodness knows what else. Let me preface this by saying that even though it's going to be a long time before my family is accurately captured by the census, I am actually more sympathetic to the challenges of the Census Bureau than many. Read More... Posted Mar 13 2009, 11:03 AM by Miriam Axel-Lute with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: marriage, adoptive parents, Data, census, same-sex parents, Axel-Lute, head of household, bio parents, queer families, defining parenthood

• Kentucky Bill Would Ban Same-Sex Foster Parents

  A bill in the Kentucky state senate would restrict foster care and adoption in the state to married couples or single people living alone.  A similar bill passed in Arkansas last November.  If Kentucky passes this one, it will be the seventh state with an essential ban against same-sex foster and adoptive parents. In every time, everywhere, foster parents and those interested in adopting older children from the public system are too few and far between.  Kentucky has over 7,000 children currently in foster care, about 2,000 of which are available for and awaiting adoption.  The state, like most, is trying to recruit more foster and adoptive parents for these kids. Restricting the available homes for children in the greatest need, with the steepest odds against ever being adopted is not just Read More... Posted Feb 25 2009, 11:00 AM by Shannon LC Cate with | with 17 comment(s) Filed under: Shannon LC Cate, same-sex adoption, same-sex parents, foster care system, foster families

• Gay Parent Public Service Announcements Censored During Super Bowl

  If you watched the Super Bowl on California's KABC-TV, you missed an ad from "Get to Know Us First," a California campaign to promote understanding of the needs of same-sex headed families.  Several ads featuring 2-mom and 2-dad families were produced for the organization to help promote the undoing of Proposition 8, which, in November 2008, took away marriage rights previously won by same-sex couples. KABC-TV claimed it had decided not to air any "advocacy" ads during its Super Bowl programming.  But the ad agency that produced the Get to Know Us First campaign claims several advocacy ads were in fact aired throughout the show. The ads show real people in real families and send the subtle message that some of the fear-mongering from those who oppose same-sex marriage, adoption and family life is simply not accurate. For one of the Get to Know Us spots, see below.   Read More... Posted Feb 04 2009, 03:35 PM by Shannon LC Cate with | with 6 comment(s) Filed under: gay parenting, gay marriage, Shannon LC Cate, Proposition 8, same-sex parents, get to know us first

• Hip Hop Video Addresses Same-Sex Parenting

  Lesbian hip hop artist Melange Lavonne has used her music to address important political and social issues from gay-bashing to partner abuse.  Now she's got a moving song about same-sex parenting called "I've Got You." See the video  below the cut.  You should screen it before sharing it with your children. Read More... Posted Jan 20 2009, 11:00 AM by Shannon LC Cate with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: hip hop, Lesbian Moms, Shannon LC Cate, same-sex parents, melange lavonne

• Mommy and Mama Now Legal in New York

  Good news for parents and children in New York state!  In keeping with the state's ruling last year that same-sex marriages made out of state (in Canada, for example) had to be respected, the state health department now says that both parents in such marriages will be listed on the birth certificates of children born to them.Any child born to a married woman is automatically considered the child of her husband--even if the woman conceived with donor sperm or other means (ahem) in which her husband is not the baby's biological parent.  But in the case of Read More... Posted Dec 17 2008, 03:00 PM by Shannon LC Cate with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: gay marriage, Shannon LC Cate, same-sex parents, second-parent adoption

• Opposing Same-Sex Fostercare and Adoption: It's Not Just for John McCain Anymore

  John McCain told the New York Times that children were better off in orphanages than in the homes of loving same-sex parents.  It seems some folks in Arkansas agree. An Arkansas ballot initiative being pushed by conservative groups would leave more children waiting for families longer by banning adoption and foster parenting by unmarried couples.  By "unmarried" everyone on both sides of the ballot initiative means "same-sex." Read More... Posted Oct 26 2008, 09:37 PM by Shannon LC Cate with | with 11 comment(s) Filed under: adoption, foster care, gay adoption, gay parenting, John McCain, Shannon LC Cate, Proposition 8, Arkansas Adoption Ban, same-sex parents, quer spawn