Ohio

4/5/12 UPDATE: A federal judge ruled that high school student Maverick Couch can continue wearing his "Jesus is not a homophobe" t-shirt as the court decides a lawsuit filed by Lambda Legal against the Waynesville School District.

An Ohio judge has ruled that lesbian mothers must share custody of their 8-year-old biological daughter. The judge found that evidence supports the claims of Julie Rose Rowell that she and biological mother Julie Ann Smith were life partners with an agreement to raise the girl together. Smith plans to appeal the case to a domestic relations judge and will appeal even further if necessary. The couple split up in 2008 and Rowell filed a petition for shared custody after Smith refused to allow her contact with the child.

Representatives of Equality Ohio delivered more than 80,000 signatures calling upon the Union-Scioto School District to include sexual orientation and gender identity in their anti-harassment policy. Ohio resident Bret Thompson launched the Change.org petition after watching the assault of a 15-year-old gay student in a cell phone video (see below) that went viral immediately following the attack.

Chris Seelbach (32) has been elected as Cincinnati's first openly gay council member. This shows that Cincinnati's long-held conservative reputation may be evolving. It also changes the perspective at City Hall and shows other LGBT people that it's OK to live an authentic life.