May 17, 2103 – Portugese-Amercian-Journal.com Portuguese parliament has approved Friday two bills that will allow gay couples to adopt children. The bill was approved with 99 votes in favor, 94 votes against, and 9 abstentions. The bills were supported by the ruling center-right Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the progressive Socialist Party (PS). The Portuguese parliament had approved the right to same-sex marriages in 2010, but without adoption...

The Iowa state Supreme Court ruled that the state must issue birth certificates to same-sex couples showing both spouses as parents. Lambda Legal reports: In the decision, Justice Wiggins wrote, “By naming the nonbirthing spouse on the birth certificate of a married lesbian couple’s child, the child is ensured support from that parent and the parent establishes fundamental legal rights at the moment of birth. Therefore, the only explanation for...

By    On Top Magazine Staff            Published:    May 01, 2013 Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan on Monday reversed course on gay adoption, saying that he regrets a 1999 vote. During a Wisconsin town hall, Ryan was asked to explain his long record of voting against gay rights.  Ryan rates a zero percent by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) for not co-sponsoring any of the 11 gay rights-related bills currently before Congress, including...

GayStarNews.com – April 11, 2013 by Joe Morgan The French Senate has approved adoption for same-sex couples. On the evening of 10 April, the second article of the ‘Marriage for All’ bill was adopted by the upper level of French parliament. The vote came just one day after the Senate approved Article 1, the provision allowing gay couples to marry. The Senate must now complete a review of the legislation in its entirety, although passage of...

ThinkProgress.org, By Ian Millhiser on Mar 14, 2013 When President Bush announced his decision to nominate future-Chief Justice John Roberts to the Supreme Court, his wife Jane stood nearby holding the hands of two beautiful children — Jack and Josie Roberts. Both of these children were born in Ireland, and later adopted by the future Chief Justice and his wife. Justice Clarence Thomas also has an adopted son, his grandnephew Mark Martin, Jr., who...

Argentina’s Jorge Mario Bergoglio was chosen by the conclave of cardinals as the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church 13 March 2013 | By Joe Morgan – GayStarNews.com Pope Francis was elected as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church today (13 March). Argentinian Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 76, was chosen by the conclave of 115 cardinals as a successor to Benedict XVI. Tens of thousands of faithful Catholics broke into cheers as the white...

New York Times, by Paul Mercurio, February 28, 2013 The story of how Danny and I were married last July in a Manhattan courtroom, with our son, Kevin, beside us, began 12 years earlier, in a dark, damp subway station. Danny called me that day, frantic. “I found a baby!” he shouted. “I called 911, but I don’t think they believed me. No one’s coming. I don’t want to leave the baby alone. Get down here and flag down a police car or something.”...

By Brendan Kirby – October 12, 2012 – AL.com MOBILE, Alabama –€“ Cari Searcy considers herself the parent of 6-year-old Khaya in every important way, but an Alabama appeals court ruled today that legally, she is not. The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals upheld a decision by Mobile County Probate Judge Don Davis to deny Searcy’s adoption petition. Although she has been with her partner, Kim McKeand, for 14 years – and legally...

When will Mitt Romney get it?  The sheer number of contortions he has performed on the issue of adoption by gay and lesbian parents has earned him a gold medal for political flip-flopping. He’s morphed from the congenial former governor of blue-saturated Massachusetts, where gay adoption is both legal and supported by a majority of the populace, to the Republican candidate for president in a party that has lurched far right for a cuddle in...

by Karina Bland – Aug. 11, 2012 - The Republic Steven and Roger Ham, gay men raising 12 children adopted from foster care,  were recently named to Esquire magazine’s list of the 10 best dads of  2012. But the two had no idea until it was pointed out to them. They’re a little busy. Steven spent six years at home taking care of the growing family. In January,  he went back to work full time now  that Olivia, the youngest, is 3...