A Bittersweet New Year

It seems like the Jewish New Year has brought with it lots of LGBT-related news.  And while I’m generally quite the pessimist and despite a few recent challenges, I am still feeling pretty good about things.

So, let’s start with the bad news.  Yesterday, in some complicated legislative maneuvering and pitting groups against one another, the US Senate voted against repealing the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which forces LGBT military members into the closet and mandates that if service members are “outed” in any way, they are susceptible to discharge.  The House had already voted to repeal the law, President Obama has come out against the law, and the US military has stated the law should go. So, for the estimated ” title=”recent survey” target=”_blank”>recent survey of 2,300 people across the US over seven years found that the number of people who consider LGBT couples with children to be “families” has risen from 54% to 68%.  That’s right – more than two out of three people in the US think of LGBT people raising kids to be a family.

2) A ” title=”judge in Florida ” target=”_blank”>judge in Florida concluded that the law prohibiting adoption by “homosexuals” is unconstitutional.

2) A ” title=”violate the US Constitution” target=”_blank”>violate the US Constitution.

4) In Massachusetts, a