July 28, 2009, Huffington Post - By Johann Hari - Throughout the Nineties, there has been a surge of gay and lesbian couples deciding to settle down in the suburbs and have kids. En masse, gay people are slowly trading the Shadow Lounge for a baby-vomit-and-puke-filled lounge of their own. This quiet trend has finally poked its way to public attention with the sight of Bruno - the crazed Austrian fashionista played by Sasha Baron Cohen - sitting with...

July 26, 2009, New York Times By PAMELA PAUL On Christmas Eve in 2007, the State of West Virginia bestowed upon Kathryn Kutil and Cheryl Hess of Oak Hill a relative rarity in the foster-care system: a newborn. The baby girl, TiCasey, was born on Dec. 8 to a longtime drug addict, father unknown, and entered the world with cocaine, opiates and benzodiazepines in her bloodstream. For two weeks after delivery, she went through withdrawal, unable to sleep...

By The Associated Press 07.24.2009 1:23pm EDT (Portland, Maine) Maine’s highest court has given a legal victory to a woman who stands to stake a claim to a share of one of America’s premier business fortunes thanks to her adoption by her lesbian partner. The Maine Supreme Judicial Court on Thursday overturned a 2008 lower court decision that annulled the adoption. At issue was whether it was legal for a judge to allow Olive Watson to adopt Patricia...

By 365gay Newswire 07.23.2009 3:30pm EDT (Florida) While answering reporter questions in Tallahassee, Florida Governor Charlie Crist indicated that he might consider legislation to change a law that prevents same sex couples from adopting. When questioned whether he would support changes to the law, Gov. Crist told reporters, “I’d have to think about it.” Three hours later, however, Gov. Crist reaffirmed his support for “traditional families”...

Washington Post - D.C. WIRE Thursday, July 23, 2009 Lesbians in the District no longer will need the written consent of their partners to adopt children born to their partners through artificial insemination, under a new law that took effect Saturday. The name of a consenting spouse or unmarried partner will appear on the child’s birth certificate as the legal parent, a status that previously had to be obtained by same-sex parents through...

New York Times,  July 21, 2009 Personal Health By JANE E. BRODY With the birth last month of twin girls for Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, surrogate pregnancy once again assumed center stage. After years of infertility following the birth of their son in 2002, the couple chose to have another woman gestate the embryos they created. Much has changed in surrogacy in the two decades since the high-profile Baby M case, in which the surrogate...

New York Times, July 17, 2009 By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 7:43 a.m. ET WASHINGTON (AP) — People attacked because of their sexual orientation or gender would receive federal protections under a Senate-approved measure that significantly expands the reach of hate crimes law. The Senate bill also would make it easier for federal prosecutors to step in when state or local authorities are unable or unwilling to pursue hate crimes. ”The...

By The Associated Press 07.14.2009 2:34pm EDT (Miami) A Miami-Dade circuit court judge who ruled Florida’s gay adoption ban is unconstitutional has been demoted. Judge Cindy Lederman has been removed from her 15-year post as top administrative judge over Miami-Dade’s juvenile courts. The new chief justice over Miami courts says he wanted new perspectives and leadership. Lederman ruled in November 2008 that Florida’s gay adoption ban was unconstitutional,...

July 12, 2009, New York times By SARA RIMER Melissa Brisman and her daughter, Simmie, age 6, were catching a matinee of “Marley and Me” in Tenafly, N.J. It was supposed to be a movie about a dog named Marley. But up on the big screen, Marley’s owner, a glowing Jennifer Aniston, kept getting pregnant — serenely, effortlessly pregnant (after one miscarriage). Jumping up on her seat, Simmie loudly asked her mother, “How come you’re the only...

By Jennifer Vanasco, editor in chief, 365gay.com 07.08.2009 9:25am EDT (Washington) The National Education Association adopted two resolutions calling for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights at its annual conference last week. The resolutions say that the organization opposes the “discriminatory treatment of same-sex couples and its belief that such couples should have the same legal rights and benefits as similarly-situated heterosexual...