Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard is set for a reversal on same marriage, with government sources claiming she would announce within weeks a conscience vote on the issue. The Herald Sun reports that government sources said the Prime Minister would state her position ahead of the Labor Party's national conference in December. It could come as early as Monday or after the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth finishes at the end of next week. Left wing and some Right-wing MPs who are delegates to the Labor conference will push for a reversal of the party's platform, which currently opposes same sex marriage. If approved, a path would be cleared for Gillard to call for a conscience vote on the issue in parliament. But it is not certain to be passed in parliament, with many conservative MPs deeply opposed. Government sources said despite supporting a conscience vote, it wouldn't necessarily mean the PM would support gay marriage itself. Gillard is on the record as opposing same sex marriage - and claims her position has been consistent with the Labor Party's national policy platform. But she has also stated previously she would not allow Labor MPs a free vote on it. Labor MPs in favour of a free vote said that it made political sense for Ms Gillard to announce support for a conscience vote to take the heat of the debate at the conference. "The PM can announce her position, she can do that by expressing her own views without them being binding," said a Labor source.
Washington State’s largest private sector union, UCFW 21, on Thursday said it will support efforts to legalize same sex marriage in Washington State next year, according to The Seattle Post-Intelligencer. “Domestic partnerships were a giant step forward and provided working families with important protections. However, only marriage can provide gay and lesbian couples and their children legal rights that provide essential protections such as social security, spousal and survivor benefits,” the 35,000-member union, which represents people in the retail and health care sectors, said in a statement. Last month a poll conducted by Seattle political consulting firm Strategies 360 found support for same sex marriage in Washington state at 54-35. In 2007 the Washington Legislature passed a domestic partnership law, which provided inheritance rights in cases where there was no will, hospital visitation rights, the ability to authorize autopsies and organ donations. In 2009, lawmakers passed an “everything but marriage” bill, greatly expanding the rights of same-sex couples to include things like workers’ compensation coverage, the right to use sick leave to care for a spouse, victims’ rights, including the right to receive notifications and benefits allowances. Some lawmakers say they will consider introducing a bill making same sex marriage legal in the next, regular legislative session.
The number of gays and lesbians adopting children has nearly tripled in the past decade despite discriminatory rules in many states, according to an analysis of recent population trends, The Associated Press reports. “It’s a stratospheric increase. It’s like going from zero to 60,” said Miami attorney Elizabeth Schwartz who has coordinated more than 100 adoptions for gay and lesbian families in the past year. “I think many really dreamed of doing this but it wasn’t something they ever thought would become a reality.”About 21,740 same sex couples had an adopted child in 2009, up from 6,477 in 2000, according to the Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law. About 32,571 adopted children were living with same sex couples in 2009, up from 8,310 in 2000. The figures are an analysis of newly released Census Bureau estimates. New York-based Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute released a report Thursday culminating a four-year project surveying 158 gay and lesbian parents and their experience with the adoption process. Their researchers found the highest number of homosexuals adopted children from Massachusetts, California, New York and Texas. Several states specifically prohibit same-sex couples from adopting jointly, while others have a patchwork of discriminatory policies that make it difficult for gays and lesbians to adopt either as individuals or as couples. But some states have eased restrictions on gay families. Florida stopped enforcing its ban on gay adoptions last year following a decision by a state appeals court that the three-decade-old law is unconstitutional. The American Civil Liberties Union challenged the law, among the strictest in the country, on behalf of Martin Gill and his male partner, who adopted two young brothers from foster care. In the past, adoption was often only an option for wealthy gay families who could afford to adopt internationally or to pay a surrogate. Allowing gay couples to adopt from foster care, where health care and college is paid for, opens it up to more people, experts say. The study estimates about 50-percent of adoptive gay families adopt children from foster care. Earlier this year, the Arkansas Supreme Court rejected a voter-approved initiative that barred gay couples and other unmarried people living together from serving as adoptive or foster parents. Virginia allows married couples and single people to adopt or become foster parents, regardless of sexual orientation, but bars unmarried couples — gay or straight — from doing so. Earlier this month, hundreds of residents weighed in on proposed regulations that would allow state-licensed groups to turn down prospective adoptive and foster parents because of their sexual orientation.
In a colourful show of support for those who speak out against anti-gay bullying, CNN reports that the White House changed elements of its websites to a bright purple today in celebration of the second-annual Spirit Day. Designed to be a mass expression of solidarity for the nation’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities, Spirit Day was created by a teenager named Brittany McMillan in 2010. It has again gone viral in 2011, a likely sign of Americans reacting to heartbreaking headlines about anti-gay bullying allegedly leading to suicides. Today, White House staff tweeted about Spirit Day. They also changed the background of the iconic White House logo to purple on Facebook and posted an entry on the blog at WhiteHouse.gov to mark the occasion. In addition, social networking websites were peppered with purple-themed status updates, links, and profile pictures. Advocacy groups incorporated the color purple into fonts and page design, and also linked to the WhiteHouse.gov entry. The White House blog entry also included postings of Administration YouTube videos produced last year as the emotional “It Gets Better” project gained steam all across the country. It was widely seen as a civil rights victory when President Obama, Secretary Hillary Clinton, and other high-ranking officials posted talks encouraging gay youth to stay confident even in the face of bullying. The White House says millions participated in Spirit Day last year.
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