ACLU

On October 3rd, the ACLU of Florida, along with the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Family Equality Council, and SAVE Dade, will host a free training event at the Miami-Dade GLBT Expo that will provide participants with the skills to take a stand against Florida's ban on gay adoption and support litigation challenging Florida's ban by changing the hearts and minds of your friends, neighbors, and communities.

The ACLU's federal lawsuit against Tennessee school districts that prohibited students from visiting gay-themed websites from school computers has been dismissed by a judge, but the decision comes after the districts agreed to remove the filtering software.

The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Florida and its LGBT Advocacy Project has been awarded a $150,000 grant from The Tides Foundation's State Equality Fund to defend its recent trial court victory ending Florida's ban on adoption by gays and lesbians, and to educate Floridians about the case. The grant funds will pay some of the significant costs of defending the judgment on appeal and of conducting a grass-roots public awareness campaign.

Earlier this month a lesbian couple in Idaho - and their three foster children - were denied a reduced admission price to a pool in eastern Idaho because "the Lava Hot Springs State Foundation says the five don't fit the definition of a family".

Mark Lowe, executive director for the Lava Hot Springs State Foundation, says the state doesn't recognize gay or lesbian marriage and defines a family as one male, one female and children.

The AP reports that civil rights groups are urging a hospital in central California to change its policies after employees briefly barred a lesbian from visiting her partner, who went into seizure at a gay marriage march.

The AP reports that an Arkansas judge has ruled that a challenge to ban on unmarried adoption, fostering can proceed.

The voter-approved ban went into effect Jan. 1. It prohibits unmarried couples who live together from adopting or fostering children. Its authors acknowledge it was aimed at gay people.

The AP reports that Michigan courts can oversee a custody dispute between lesbian parents who adopted in Illinois even though Michigan doesn't formally recognize gay relationships.

The court ruled 2-1 that the U.S. Constitution requires Michigan courts to recognize Diane Giancaspro and Lisa Congleton as adoptive parents. It reversed a trial judge who said Michigan's 2004 voter-approved gay marriage ban kept her from enforcing the women's parental rights.