Articles - Legal & Financial

While making little sense at all, the head of a New York-based think tank testified that marriage equality helps children, but weakens the meaning of marriage. The AP reports: David Blankenhorn, president of the New York-based Institute for American Values, took the stand Tuesday as the second and final expert witness for the ban's sponsors.

Scott Allan, a freelance journalist from Chicago, offers an inspiring glimpse into our future. Using data and projections from reliable sources, he reports that marriage equality will be a reality in all 50 states within 20 years.

He writes:

"Examining poll numbers and demographic data provides enough evidence to state with near-certainty that gay marriage is inevitable in the United States.

The D.C. City Council passed a measure legalizing marriage equality - making the nation’s capital the first jurisdiction below the Mason-Dixon Line to allow such unions.

The NY Times says, "The bill, which passed by an 11-to-2 vote, may still face obstacles in Congress, among city voters and in the courts, but most advocates of same-sex marriage say they expect it to become law by spring. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty has said he will sign the bill."

Stonewall - a major GLBT non-profit in the UK - has worked with Gamble and Ghevaert law firm to produce a guide to new laws on gay and lesbian parenting, called Parenthood for Same-Sex Couples.

The guide aims to provide information to service providers about the law on same-sex conception and parenting, including donor insemination [and the new legal rights for lesbian couples to be named on birth certificates], co-parenting arrangements, and international surrogacy for gay men.