Equally Speaking
Good morning and thanks for tuning in to Equally Speaking, your morning dose of GLBT news from the Human Rights Campaign for Friday, March 21st. I'm Candace Gingrich.
And I'm Brad Mayer. First up, news from Florida.
A Florida state senator has filed legislation to ease a three-decade old ban on gays adopting children in the state. Gays and lesbians in Florida are allowed to serve as foster parents but are barred from adopting. The proposed bill would remove the ban but leave it to a judge to determine the best interests of a child. There are nearly 4,000 children are in Florida's foster care system awaiting permanent homes.
Landlords, hotels, stores and restaurants in Colorado would be barred from discriminating against gays and lesbians under a bill that passed a Senate committee Wednesday. If enacted, the measure would extend to gays and lesbians the same civil rights protections in housing and public accommodations that are already offered on the basis of race, sex, religion and national origin.
The students at the center of a legal battle with the Osseo School District in Minnesota publicly revealed their names this week. Natalie Durivage and Heather Woodson claim the district violated the Equal Access Act when it prohibited their gay straight alliance. While the girls are being represented pro bono, the district, which recently closed down two elementary schools due to financial constraints, has spent hundreds of thousands in the lawsuit.
Another lawsuit regarding a gay straight alliance will continue even though the group no longer has any members. This week, a judge rescinded a ruling that required the Okeechobee school board to allow the GSA to meet while the lawsuit played out. The district argues that the Equal Access Act can't be used in the case of a GSA and that Florida law requires schools to teach abstinence and "the benefits of monogamous heterosexual marriage."
The Arizona Senate has defeated a measure that would have prevented state employees from adding domestic partners and their children to their benefits plans. The Governor's Regulatory Review Council is currently moving forward with a proposed rule change to offer domestic-partner benefits to state employees. Although it was defeated, the bill could be reconsidered before the legislative session adjourns.
Harry and Pepper, the San Francisco Zoo's male penguin couple, have returned home after a nine-month stay at the Sacramento Zoo. The lovebirds moved last year to help christen a new temporary penguin exhibit at the zoo in California's capital. Unlike some of the opposite-sex penguin couples, who left Sacramento early due to homesickness, Harry and Pepper enjoyed their stay.
That's the news from us today. Thanks for tuning in to Equally Speaking.
Have a great weekend and we'll see you back here again Monday morning.