A Florida judge recently ruled that the state's gay adoption ban is unconstitutional. Florida has had a gay adoption ban in place for 31 years. Monroe Circuit Court Judge David Audlin, Jr., delivered the ruling, which was in favor of a gay foster parent in Key West who wanted to adopt a 13-year-old boy. Audlin said that the statute violates the Florida Constitution's concept of separation of powers and that the law singles out one particular group for punishment.
Pressure from the American Civil Liberties Union caused an Idaho library to put gay books back on its shelves. The ACLU threatened to sue the library for banning and removing two books, The Joy of Gay Sex and The New Joy of Sex, from its open bookshelves. Library patrons had to instead request the books from the library's director. The library's board voted 3-2 to reverse the decision, made back in 2005 after a patron complained about the books.
Sen. Larry Craig, who was arrested last year in a Minneapolis airport for allegedly trying to solicit sex with an undercover cop during a sex-sting operation, is back in court. The Republican senator is trying to toss out the guilty plea he issued last year after his arrest. Craig's attorneys say that they want the guilty plea reversed because there wasn't enough evidence to prove his guilt.
Openly gay former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey's ex-wife dropped her fraud claims against him. McGreevey publicly came out of the closet four years ago. Dina Matos, his ex, claimed that McGreevey allegedly tricked her into marrying him. Matos dropped her case. The former couple's divorce and child custody battle ended in August. Matos said she dropped the fraud claim for the benefit of their daughter.
California's Episcopal bishops recently issued a statement urging voters to vote 'No' on Proposition 8 in November. Proposition 8 would amend the California constitution to ban gay marriage. Same-sex marriage is currently legal in California following a groundbreaking decision by the state's Supreme Court. California's six Episcopal bishops came out in opposition to Proposition 8, saying, 'marriage provides these couples the same legal rights and protections that heterosexual couples take for granted.'
Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin's church, Alaska's Wasilla Bible Church, was a sponsor of a recent Focus on the Family conference held in Anchorage. The conference, called 'Love Won Out,' supports 'curing' gays and lesbians through prayer. Although Palin has no record of supporting conversion therapy or the ex-gay movement, many gay and lesbian activists, as well as PFLAG members, protested outside the convention.
Maryland's highest court ruled in favor of challenging an anti-trans measure. The Maryland Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Lambda Legal's fight against a referendum that aims to block the addition of gender identity as a protected category under Montgomery County's civil rights law. The group that collected enough signatures to put the measure on the November ballot is the Citizens for Responsible Government.
On Oct. 13, The Matthew Shepard Foundation will mark the tenth anniversary of Matthew Shepard's death during a candlelight ceremony in Minneapolis. Shepard was murdered during a hate crime in Laramie, Wyo. Speakers that evening will include his mother, Judy Shepard, T.R. Knight and others.