Contemporary Sexuality - January 2009 - (Page 8) Quick Hits continued from page 7 Florida court rules gay man can adopt kids A 47-year-old man living in Miami-Dade County, Florida has been serving as a foster parent for two children since 2004. Like many foster parents, Frank Martin Gill decided he’d like to adopt the kids. But state law prohibits gay men like Gill from adopting children. Gill sued and a trial court judge agreed, ruling there was no evidence that gays and lesbians were less fit to parent than their straight peers. “It is clear that sexual orientation is not a predictor of a person’s ability to parent,” wrote Cindy S. Lederman, a Miami-Dade Circuit Court judge. Attorneys representing Florida had argued that gay men and lesbian women suffered from higher rates of substance abuse, were in less stable relationships and that their children were stigmatized. Robert Rosenwal, director of the LGBT Advocacy Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, was pleased by the decision. “There is no dispute that children raised by gay parents fare just as well or better than children raised by straight parents.” The case is expected to be appealed to the Florida Supreme Court. Three states have similar laws prohibiting gay and lesbian couples from adopting: Arkansas, Mississippi and Utah. (New York Times, Nov. 25) The aftermath of California’s Prop 8 “Who paid for the buses, travel costs, meals and other expenses of all the Mormon participants? No contributions were reported.” — Fred Karger After California voters approved Proposition 8, which aimed to end gay marriage in the nation’s most populous state, protestors took to the streets and courts. Several lawsuits have been filed, in hopes that the anti-gay marriage provision doesn’t take effect. That’s not unheard of. “Prop 187, which denied benefits to undocumented aliens, was ultimately struck down in the courts,” says Erwin Chemerinsky, a professor at University of California, Irvine. “Prop 209, that ended affirmative action by the state of California and local governments, was challenged in the courts and was ultimately upheld. So it’s not at all surprising there’s a legal challenge to Proposition 8.” In addition to the legal challenges, the leader of Californians Against Hate filed a complaint with the state’s Fair Political Practices Committee alleging that the Church of Latter-day Saints didn’t report all of the money it spent on a video simulcast, website and volunteer support. “Who paid for the buses, travel costs, meals and other expenses of all the Mormon participants?” asked Fred Karger of Californians Against Hate, in his complaint. “No contributions were reported.” The church reported $5,000 in expenses. As reported in our November issue, its members were among the biggest financial contributors to the Prop 8 effort, donating as much as one-third of the money to the anti-gay marriage campaign. Exit polls showed whites were split on the measure, while a majority of Hispanics and 70 percent of African-Americans supported Prop 8. That prompted Jasmyne A. Cannick, a black lesbian, to write about the issue in an op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times. “Some people seem to think that homophobia trumps racism, and that winning the battle for gay marriage will symbolically bring about equality for everyone,” Cannick writes. “That may seem true to white gays, but as a black lesbian, let me tell you: There are still too many inequalities that exist as it relates to my race for that to ever be the case. Ever heard of ‘driving while black’? Ever looked at the difference between the dropout rates for blacks and for whites? Or test scores? Or wages? Or rates of incarceration?” (Los Angeles Times, Nov. 8, NPR, Nov. 13 and New York Times, Nov. 25) About 20 percent of teens share nude or semi-nude photos online One in five teen girls — and 11 percent of teen girls ages 13-16 years old — say they have electronically sent, or posted online, nude or seminude images of themselves. According to the results of a survey released by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and CosmoGirl.com, these racy images are also getting passed around: One-third of teen boys and one-quarter of teen girls say they have had nude/semi-nude images — originally meant to be private — shared with them. The survey of 1,280 teens and young adults indicates that 15 percent of teens who have sent sexually suggestive content such as text messages, email, photographs or video say they have done so with someone they only know online. Teen girls are not the only ones sharing sexually explicit content. Almost one in five teen boys (18 percent) say they have sent or posted nude/semi nude images of themselves. (The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, Dec. 11) www.aasect.org | January 2009 Vol. 43, No. 1 8 Contemporary Sexuality http://www.CosmoGirl.com http://www.aasect.org
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Contemporary Sexuality - January 2009 Contemporary Sexuality - January 2009 Contents Member Profile Quick Hits: Sex in the News News of Members News from AASECT's Board of Directors Educational Opportunities Contemporary Sexuality - January 2009 Contemporary Sexuality - January 2009 - Contents (Page 1) Contemporary Sexuality - January 2009 - Contents (Page 2) Contemporary Sexuality - January 2009 - Member Profile (Page 3) Contemporary Sexuality - January 2009 - Member Profile (Page 4) Contemporary Sexuality - January 2009 - Member Profile (Page 5) Contemporary Sexuality - January 2009 - Member Profile (Page 6) Contemporary Sexuality - January 2009 - Quick Hits: Sex in the News (Page 7) Contemporary Sexuality - January 2009 - Quick Hits: Sex in the News (Page 8) Contemporary Sexuality - January 2009 - News of Members (Page 9) Contemporary Sexuality - January 2009 - News from AASECT's Board of Directors (Page 10) Contemporary Sexuality - January 2009 - Educational Opportunities (Page 11) Contemporary Sexuality - January 2009 - Educational Opportunities (Page 12)
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