"ALTERNADAD": Neal Pollack

[Awwwww, he wants to be "cool," how retro! Doesn't he know just being a basic, good, boring, awesome parent is the new cool? We like you guys dorky! ...That said, I agree with the final paragraph here--parents shouldn't have to be perfect. --Eve]

...Pollack's naked honesty backfired last May after his Salon.com essay on Elijah biting his preschool classmates, particularly one little girl who bore the scabs to prove it. In the essay, Pollack tells his son, "You can only bite girls if they ask you to." Readers skewered Pollack and Allen as selfish, neglectful parents, completely unprepared for the responsibility of raising a child.

It was a turning point for Pollack, a moment, he said, when he realized fatherhood was "for keeps." He said it prepared him for the reaction to his behavior in "Alternadad."

"I'm sure I'm going to get attacked," he said. "It seems inevitable that some people are going to see that as irresponsible or immature or stupid. All of which it was, but you know I also don't think those things are diametrically opposed to being a good parent."

more
posted by Eve at 7:47 PM | Link | 1 comments

Majority of freshmen view gay marriage as OK

Study of college students at 393 schools finds 61% approve of same-sex matrimony. Percentage described as politically moderate hits new low.
By Francisco Vara-Orta
Times Staff Writer
January 19, 2007

USC freshman Jarod Wunneburger views 2006 as a breakthrough year for the gay community, with the popularity of Oscar-nominated films such as "Brokeback Mountain" and "Transamerica" and the public debate over states banning same-sex marriage.

So to Wunneburger, a UCLA report released today about the attitudes of college freshmen nationwide came as no surprise. Acceptance of same-sex marriage grew from 2005 to 2006.

The study found that 61% of incoming freshmen last year agreed that same-sex couples should have the right to marriage, up 3.3 percentage points from 2005.

Based on a paper questionnaire given to 271,441 first-time, full-time college students at 393 schools nationwide in 2006, the annual survey was conducted as part of the Cooperative Institutional Research Program under UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute. The researchers statistically adjusted the data to reflect the demographics of the 1.3 million incoming freshmen entering four-year schools throughout the U.S. in 2006.

The findings on gay issues reflected the experiences of Wunneburger, 18, a sociology major who works at USC's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center.

More
posted by Margaret Nell at 12:08 AM | Link | 3 comments

Adultery in Michigan

A Detroit Free Press column from Monday draws attention to an interesting decision (use the search form to find Docket Number 270229) by the Michigan Court of Appeals issued in November 2006. In some ways, the case is just an interesting opinion on how a criminal statute is to be interpreted. Thus, the opinion was not widely noted at the time.

The case involved a woman who consented to sex in order to obtain drugs. The man who gave her drugs was charged with, among other things, a first-degree charge of criminal sexual conduct. The charge is based on a statute that criminalizes (in the decision’s words) “engag[ing] in sexual penetration that occurs under circumstances involving the commission of another felony.”

The trial judge threw out the charge and the prosecution appealed. The defendant argued that the sexual acts were consensual and that the law required there be a closer connection between the sexual acts and the underlying felony charge (here, delivery of drugs). The defense believed the law was meant to criminalizing only sexual acts involving coercion or force. The appeals court disagreed, finding that the clear language of the statute does not mention a victim’s consent as a defense to the charge. So, if there was any connection between the felony and a sexual act, the requirements for prosecution under the statute were met.

The reason the decision is now gaining attention involves one particular implication of the decision. In a footnote, the court questioned whether the legislature intended the result in the case. The court said: “Technically, any time a person engages in sexual penetration in an adulterous relationship [adultery is a felony] . . . he or she is guilty of” first-degree criminal sexual conduct. The court suggests that if the legislature had intended to only criminalize “scenarios in which there was a violent felony involving an unwilling victim” they could “take a second look at the statutory language.”

I suppose adulterers could look on the bright side—being drawn and quartered (or any form of capital punishment) is not a possible sentence, although the column says life imprisonment is. The column points out that there is little reason to believe prosecutors will begin to press charges using this law.

This story ought to turn some attention to a really good and innovative approach to adultery proposed by IMAPP: that it be treated as a tort against the injured spouse so the injury caused by adultery can be redressed without divorce if that is what the injured spouse wants.
posted by William Duncan at 4:59 PM | Link | 1 comments

The Business Logic of Human Flesh/Will Saletan

"The Embryo Factory" in Slate:

"Friday morning, an investigator from the Food and Drug Administration spent four hours questioning Jennalee Ryan of San Antonio, Texas, about her new line of business. That business, outlined a week ago by Washington Post reporter Rob Stein, is making and selling human embryos from handpicked donors. The FDA says this doesn't appear to violate any rules within its purview. Embryo manufacture? Go right ahead.

It's temping to label Ryan a madwoman, as many critics have. But that's exactly wrong. Ryan represents the next wave of industrial rationality. She's bringing the innovations of Costco and Burger King to the business of human flesh. . .

To Ryan, embryos are inventory. "I saw a demand for something and created the product," she told to the San Antonio Current. The doctor who mixed Ryan's first batch of embryos was aghast to discover their fate, but Ryan insists, "If they are my embryos, legally, what I do with those embryos is really none of her business." What if clients aren't satisfied with the embryos? "If they don't think it's right for them, they don't have to take them," she shrugs. With surrogacy, that policy could be extended for weeks. Tested, personalized, affordable, disposable. You've come a long way, baby."

posted by maggie at 11:27 AM | Link | 0 comments

Calif. Log Cabin Pressures Arnold on SSM

"Log Cabin Republicans at the state capitol are putting pressure on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign a gay marriage bill this year, NBC reported.

"When it comes to marriage, we believe in the fundamental fairness of the American people. There has never been a major civil rights movement that has failed in the United StCates," said statewide director of the Log Cabin Republicans, James Vaughn.
The Log Cabin Republicans said they see marriage equality as a civil rights issue, Luery reported. They equate it to the racial equality movement promoted by Abraham Lincoln, the log cabin president.

Political analyst Steve Swatt said a gay marriage bill in California is an uphill fight.

"Certainly Gov. Schwarzenegger is a moderate, or seems to be, in the true sense of the word," Swatt said. "Yet if he does sign this, he certainly would lose a great deal of his Republican base in California."

The California Legislative Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Caucus at the capitol are all Democrats, NBC reported.

"Log Cabin is working on that," Vaughn said. "One of my goals this year is to start building a farm team of Republicans who can run credible campaigns."

Log Cabin Republicans are meeting with the Schwarzenegger administration, seeking appointments to state boards and commissions as part of their grassroots campaign.
Although the governor is unlikely to sign a gay marriage bill in 2007, the Log Cabin Republicans are not giving up, Luery reported. They said they are committed to broadening the reach of California's Republican party.

California's marriage equality bill, similar to a measure vetoed by Schwarzenegger in 2005, was written by Assemblyman Mark Leno of San Francisco. . ."

posted by maggie at 10:26 AM | Link | 30 comments

Madison, Wisc Officials Protest Oath to Uphold Constitution

After the state marriage amendment passed, some folks in Madison, Wisconsin have a new plan, according to AP:

"MADISON, Wis. -- City officials could become the first in the nation to protest a state ban on gay marriage with a strong dissent added to their oath of office.

Madison residents voted 2-to-1 in November against the ban, which passed easily statewide. The city council will consider a plan Tuesday to allow elected and appointed officials to register their disagreement when they take their oaths of office and swear to uphold the Wisconsin and U.S. constitutions.

Officials would have the option of signing a statement saying they took the oath under protest because the amendment "besmirches our constitution." They would pledge to fight to overturn the amendment and to minimize its impact. . .

"We're still going to swear to uphold the constitution," said Brenda Konkel, one of six council members sponsoring the proposal. "All it's saying is that we're going to work to change it, and any discrimination that happens as a result of it isn't acceptable in Madison." . . .

Rep. Mark Gundrum, a New Berlin Republican who sponsored the ban, chuckled at Madison's protest.

"Only folks from as radical as a planet as Madison could think of that," he said. "If they want to do crazy things like this, they're going to. Whether they can legally or not is not something I have time to worry about."

City Attorney Michael May said the oath itself cannot be changed under state law, but the plan would survive any legal challenge. He said the addendum is a political statement and does not mean the constitutional amendment is invalid in Madison.

"It just says they disagree with the amendment, and they're going to do their best to see that it doesn't have the terrible impacts that some people think it will," he said. "Making political statements after you take the oath is a long-standing tradition. When a president or a governor does it, we call it an inaugural address."

posted by maggie at 2:39 PM | Link | 2 comments

"Knockdown" by Maggie Gallagher?

No, it's that other Maggie Gallagher, the Irish dancer. (Thanks Google).
posted by maggie at 10:14 AM | Link | 0 comments

NYT: 51% of Women Are Now Living Without Spouse

51% of Women Are Now Living Without Spouse
By SAM ROBERTS NY Times

For what experts say is probably the first time, more American women are living without a husband than with one, according to a New York Times analysis of census results.

In 2005, 51 percent of women said they were living without a spouse, up from 35 percent in 1950 and 49 percent in 2000.

Coupled with the fact that in 2005 married couples became a minority of all American households for the first time, the trend could ultimately shape social and workplace policies, including the ways government and employers distribute benefits.

Several factors are driving the statistical shift. At one end of the age spectrum, women are marrying later or living with unmarried partners more often and for longer periods. At the other end, women are living longer as widows and, after a divorce, are more likely than men to delay remarriage, sometimes delighting in their newfound freedom.

In addition, marriage rates among black women remain low. Only about 30 percent of black women are living with a spouse, according to the Census Bureau, compared with about 49 percent of Hispanic women, 55 percent of non-Hispanic white women and more than 60 percent of Asian women.

In a relatively small number of cases, the living arrangement is temporary, because the husbands are working out of town, are in the military or are institutionalized. But while most women eventually marry, the larger trend is unmistakable. More

posted by Margaret Nell at 12:11 AM | Link | 0 comments

Alternative Irish Fertility Treatments

Acupuncture, for instance, and novenas to St. Martha. Story on the travails of IVF, with some very Irish touches. . .www.thepost.ie/ezineSBP/story.asp?storyid=20260
posted by maggie at 12:23 PM | Link | 0 comments

"Marriage Only" Arizona Amendment Proposed

Report from The Business Journal of Phoenix:

"A state constitutional ban on gay marriage could be brought back to voters in 2008.

A gay marriage ban that prohibited public employers from offering health benefits and legal status to unmarried couples lost in an upset defeat in November.

The new proposed ban would only define marriage as a heterosexual union and would not deal with domestic partner or unmarried couple benefits. . .A group of Republican state lawmakers favors legislation that, if approved, would put a gay marriage ban on the 2008 ballot. GOP state Reps. Russell Pearce, Trish Groe and Rick Murphy are among those sponsoring the measure creating a 2008 referendum. . .

The Scottsdale Area and Tucson Metropolitan chambers of commerce also opposed 107, citing the domestic benefits provisions. . . .

Murphy, Pearce and Groe also want the Legislature to place a referendum repealing state income taxes on the '08 ballot."

posted by maggie at 10:39 AM | Link | 0 comments

Utah AG Responds to Polygamy "Rights" Case

If this AP story is to be believed, the Utah attorney general is not arguing primarily that polygamy is NOT a constitutional right (as the ADF brief wants the court to rule) but that this is not a polygamy case at all because it does not involved consenting adults but an adult and a 15 year old:

"The U.S. Supreme Court should reject a Utah polygamist's petition to appeal his bigamy conviction because the case involved an underage bride and not a pair of consenting adults, Utah's attorney general said in a brief filed with the high court Friday.

"This isn't about consenting adults, this is about an adult who had sex with a minor," Assistant Attorney General Laura Dupaix said.

The 22-page filing is a response to an October petition from Rodney Holm, a former Hildale, Utah, police officer convicted of bigamy in 2003 for entering a religious marriage with a teenager when Holm was already married to her older sister.
The Utah Supreme Court upheld the conviction last year. . ."

posted by maggie at 10:35 AM | Link | 0 comments

HRC Helps Dems to Victory This Time

What a competent political movement does. The Boston Globe's Jan. 13 account:

"The Human Rights Campaign, one of the nation's leading gay political organizations, played a quiet but pivotal role electing Democrats at the federal and local level in November, a startling turnaround for a group whose demands for gay marriage helped defeat Democratic candidates in 2004, according to party leaders and lawmakers.

Playing down its support for gay marriage, the HRC mobilized its 650,000 members to staff phone banks, raise money, and participate in get-out-the-vote campaigns to elect candidates sympathetic to gay issues, even if they didn't support gay marriage. The group was the single biggest donor to Democratic state Senate races in New Hampshire, helping the party take control of both chambers of the Legislature for the first time since 1874.

The group also helped congressional candidates from Arizona to Florida and Ohio, and party activists believe the organization can play an even larger role in the 2008 elections. The idea, leaders say, is to become a steady source of funds and grass-roots support for Democrats -- more akin to a labor union than a single-issue activist group.

"They took it to the grass roots and had people in individual states helping, either by volunteering or sending personal contributions," said Tina Stoll , a Democratic fund-raiser. Instead of throwing its money at defeating ballot initiatives banning gay marriage, the HRC focused on electing Democratic majorities -- even if it meant helping candidates who weren't fully in support of their agenda, she said.

"They didn't let the perfect be the enemy of the good," Stoll said.

Gay-rights advocates acknowledge that their issues still divide the country and can make trouble for some pro-gay marriage candidates in conservative states. So they often opted to back the most sympathetic candidate, even if he or she did not embrace the group's entire agenda.

"What makes you politically powerful is money and membership. We have both, and we have the power to deliver both. We need to do it in a way that makes people stand up and take notice," said Joe Solmonese , HRC president .

In Florida, the HRC worked hard to elect Democrat Ron Klein , despite the fact that Klein does not back gay marriage. Klein is otherwise supportive of gay rights and backs civil unions, but his greatest appeal to the HRC was that his narrow victory over GOP incumbent Representative Clay Shaw helped give the Democrats the numbers they needed to take control of the US House.

"They had numerous people manning the phones. They were very engaged in getting the vote out," said Klein, adding that the HRC also raised at least $20,000 for him.

Solmonese said the group decided after the losses of 2004 that they could be more effective by focusing on candidates instead of ballot initiatives.

The Human Rights Campaign spent more than $5 million on election-related activities, including contributions, staff, and direct mail, the group's officers said. Eighty-four staff members were sent to help 30 targeted races in 18 states. More than 90 percent of the 232 candidates the HRC endorsed -- mostly Democrats, but some pro-gay rights Republicans -- won their elections in November.

In Ohio -- a battlefield state former Democratic presidential nominee Senator John F. Kerry lost narrowly in 2004, in part because of the gay marriage issue -- the HRC played a strong role in Democratic campaigns, said Senator Sherrod Brown , a Democrat whose win in Ohio was essential to his party's takeover of the Senate last year. "They are about a progressive message ," Brown said, calling the HRC's performance in his campaign "terrific."

Mark Weaver , an Ohio-based GOP consultant, said he noticed the HRC's role in Brown's campaign, but "it was definitely under the radar."

"The average Ohioan opposes gay marriage," but the HRC was still effective in the 2006 campaigns, Weaver said.

"Even controversial groups can make a significant impact in elections if they're willing to open their pocketbooks," he added. Representative Harry Mitchell , Democrat of Arizona, said the HRC sent him a full-time staff member to work in his office and added another later in the campaign. Mitchell also does not support gay marriage, although he opposed a state referendum against same-sex marriage because it went "too far" in its language. Still, Mitchell said, "I've always been supportive of gay rights," and the HRC was "terrific" in helping him unseat Republican J.D. Hayworth , a top target of the Democrats.

The organization was most active in New Hampshire, donating a total of $135,000 to Democratic state Senate candidates. A staff member for the gay rights group served as the get-out-the-vote director for the Senate Democratic caucus and worked with party officials for a statewide plan to get voters to the polls.

At the HRC's urging, state Democratic party officials -- who had been planning just a volunteer phone bank and poll-watching campaign -- paid workers to call voters, knock on doors, and get them to the voting station, according to HRC and party officials.

The gay rights group's staff managed more than 35 paid Senate campaign staff and 1,500 volunteers, developing customized plans for eight races, they said.

"We never would have been able to do this without the large level of support we received from the HRC," said Ray Buckley , vice chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party.

New Hampshire Democrats won six of the eight targeted state Senate races, flipping the chamber from a 16-to-8 GOP majority to a 14-to-10 Democratic advantage. "The Human Rights Campaign was there with that extra push," Buckley added.

posted by maggie at 7:46 PM | Link | 1 comments

New Study: Polygamy in Malaysia

The AP is reporting (Dec. 28, 2006) on a Sisters in Islam's research project on Malaysian polygamy and its effects on families:

"Opponents of polygamy in Muslim-majority Malaysia said Thursday they will conduct a rare survey in an attempt to prove the practice throws families into emotional and economic turmoil.

Researchers hope to interview 6,000 members of polygamous households over the next 10 months in what could be the most comprehensive survey ever conducted on polygamy in a Muslim society, said Zainah Anwar, director of Sisters In Islam, a Malaysian women’s rights group.

“We need evidence-based material to strengthen our advocacy for awareness and reforms, rather than merely use stories or assumptions about polygamy,” Zainah said at a news conference. . .

According to government statistics, there were about 13,500 polygamous marriages in Malaysia between 1995 and 2004, or about 1.4 percent of all Muslim marriages, said Norani Othman, a sociologist at the National University of Malaysia.

However, anti-polygamy activists believe the true number is higher because many men fail to report their second or third marriages in order to keep them a secret from their primary families.

Polygamy is illegal for Malaysia’s non-Muslim minorities, who are mainly Buddhists, Christians and Hindus. . .

Researchers plan to ask polygamous families a wide range of questions, including how their expenditure for clothes and other necessities is affected when the man marries another wife, and whether existing wives and children are forced to make financial sacrifices.

The survey will cover other everyday dilemmas, including how husbands divide their time among multiple wives, celebrate holidays and choose which wife to take to social functions. It will also consider whether current laws sufficiently safeguard wives from mistreatment.

Sisters in Islam is aiming to publish its findings in early 2008."

posted by maggie at 7:35 PM | Link | 0 comments