THE LAW OF FAMILY

Washington Blade review of Nancy D. Polikoff's new book, Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage: Valuing All Families Under The Law.
posted by Eve at 3:05 PM | link

"PARENT SHOCK: CHILDREN ARE NOT DECOR" [NY Times]

here
posted by Eve at 3:04 PM | link

New Study: What Parents do For Teens

This study found three things were important: "family routines, parental mominotring, and supportiveness." here.
posted by maggie at 12:43 PM | link

Beyond Gay Marriage, to Spouses of ’Mixed Orientation’

From "Beyond Gay Marriage, to Spouses of ’Mixed Orientation’" EDGEBoston, February 18, 2008:

...CNN.com reported on mixed-orientation couples in a Feb. 18 article, citing "informal research" conducted on the issue of what happens when a husband or wife comes out as gay or lesbian. In almost all cases...the marriage comes to a close, usually within three years...

Though divorce is the most common outcome, there are alternatives. Some couples stay together in a monogamous relationship, having faced the truth of a gay spouse’s sexuality and decided to accept it in the context of their marriage, finding satisfaction in sharing their lives and even continuing to express their affection sexually.

Other couples opt for an open marriage, allowing their family life to remain intact, while allowing each spouse to seek physically intimate fulfillment with partners of his and her liking...

posted by Imapp Staff at 11:43 AM | link

NZ Court Ruling May Force Catholic Church to Reveal Annulment Records

From "Church may have to reveal its records," New Zealand Herald, February 22, 2008:

A weighty [High Court of New Zealand] judgment has bolstered a woman's case to view secret information held by the Catholic Church about her.

The unnamed woman wants to find out what her husband said about her in the process of getting their marriage annulled through the church.

The church has said it is not required to reveal that, and the court ruling may now have considerable ramifications for how it operates...

Central to the court case was whether the church's Catholic Tribunal, which hears annulment proceedings, could be considered a tribunal with judicial functions as defined in the Privacy Act, and therefore entitled to withhold information.

[High Court] Justice Mark Cooper ruled it was not, which opens the way for further action requiring the church to hand over the information the woman seeks...

posted by Imapp Staff at 12:10 PM | link

New Study: Does Rap Music Cause Sexism?

Enquiring minds want to know.
posted by maggie at 9:35 AM | link

Report Cites Flaws in NJ Civil Union Law

From "Commission Report Cites Flaws in New Jersey Civil Union Law," NY Times, February 20, 2008:

New Jersey’s civil union law “creates a second-class status” for same-sex couples...according to a report issued on Tuesday by a commission set up to review the law...

“The commission also heard testimony that the term ‘marriage,’ were it applied to the relationships of same-sex couples, would make a significant difference in providing equality to same-sex couples in New Jersey,” the commission wrote. “Civil union status is not clear to the general public, which creates a second-class status.”...

Gov. Jon S. Corzine, who has said he would sign a bill creating same-sex marriage, but not during a presidential election year, said the report raised “significant concerns about whether the law has effectively granted same-sex couples the same rights and benefits of every other family in the state.”...

The report is posted online at http://www.nj.gov/oag/dcr/downloads/1st-InterimReport-CURC.pdf

posted by Imapp Staff at 8:34 AM | link

THE DARK-ADAPTED EYE: Beauty in Ruth Rendell's suspense novels (post by Clio)

[thought some might be interested--Eve]

...In reading The Water's Lovely, I was struck once again by something that I have often noticed in Rendell's novels: how often it is that Rendell emphasizes the physical beauty of the main protagonist, the killer, the victim, or all three. Often it is this beauty which sets the plot in motion. ...

I've often wondered if extraordinary beauty doesn't have an unfortunate effect, rather than otherwise, on the person who possesses it. Perhaps this is because beauties of either sex are spoilt by the attention they receive (something men seem rather inclined to believe, if those who post at Roissy's website are any indication); perhaps they are confused by the sheer quantity of admirers who pursue them and find it difficult to make a wise choice of mate from among them; or, and this is related to the "spoiling" effect of beauty, perhaps they become too ambitious, and choose badly as a result. And then, too, the people who fall in love with beauty are often not inclined to give much thought to the person behind it. It's inconceivable that someone like Arthur Miller would have married Marilyn Monroe if he had really known and understood her.

I suspect, however, that resentment and jealousy may be part of the reason why beauties so often come to a bad end. Many people resent the power that beauty has over them; many others are jealous of that power. In many of Rendell's beauty-themed novels, it is this resentment of beauty and its power that drives the plot.

more
posted by Eve at 9:09 PM | link

IN SSM Ban Dies in State House

From "Gay-marriage ban dies in House," Indianapolis Star, February 16, 2008:

Supporters of a constitutional ban on same-sex marriages likely will have to wait at least another four years after a key House leader decided he won't consider legislation that passed the Senate...

"The state just needs to understand that Democrat leadership in the Indiana House is preventing them from speaking on this issue," said House Minority Leader Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis. "Speaker Pat Bauer and his leadership team killed this measure in 2004, they killed it in 2007, and now they're killing it in 2008."...

"It is a tragedy for the people of Indiana that one man, Speaker Pat Bauer, stopped the 100 members of the House (from) being able to vote to protect marriage and prevented the citizens of Indiana from having the opportunity to vote to protect marriage," [Eric Miller, founder of the conservative activist group Advance America] said. "It's not only a disappointment, it's wrong."...

posted by Imapp Staff at 10:30 AM | link

Corzine: Vote on SSM in New Jersey After the Elections

From today's New York Post, an AP story:

JON'S COLD FEET ON GAY NUPS

February 20, 2008 -- TRENTON, NJ - Gov. Jon Corzine yesterday said he has "significant concerns" about whether civil unions give gay couples the same rights as married couples, but didn't back a quick change to state law.

A spokeswoman said the Democratic governor would sign a bill allowing gay marriage, but not until after November's presidential election. "He will sign a bill, but doesn't want to make it a presidential-election-year issue," Corzine spokeswoman Lilo Stainton said.

Activists want gay marriage approved in New Jersey by year's end.

posted by maggie at 10:30 AM | link

New Study: Census Data on Living Arrangements of Children, 2004

And it looks like they are reporting the most relevant data: the proportion of children living with their own two married parents (i.e. "intact married families"):

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WEDNESDAY, FEB. 20, 2008

Robert Bernstein CB08-30
Public Information Office Broadcast
release
301-763-3030/763-3762 (fax) Detailed tables
301-457-1037 (TDD)
e-mail:

Majority of Children Live With Two Biological Parents

Nearly 45 million (61 percent) of the nation’s 73 million children
younger than 18 lived with their biological mother and father in 2004
regardless of the parents’ marital status, according to a U.S. Census
Bureau report released today.

Of these children, 42.7 million lived with both parents who were
married to each other. Another 4.1 million lived with a biological mother
and stepfather, according to Living Arrangements of Children: 2004. An
additional 19.3 million children lived with one parent, with the majority
of those (88 percent) residing with their mother.

There were 12.2 million children (representing 17 percent of all
children) who lived with a stepparent, stepsibling and/or half sibling.

Among children in these “blended” families, 71 percent lived with at
least a half sibling, 46 percent with a stepparent and 10 percent with a
stepsibling.

Other highlights:

-- Overall, 94 percent of children lived with at least one biological
parent, while 8 percent lived with at least one stepparent and 2 percent
lived with at least one adoptive parent.

-- As for parents, 30.2 million men lived with at least one of their
children younger than 18, compared with 37.8 million women. A higher
percentage of the mothers (94 percent) lived with their biological children
than the fathers (85 percent).

-- Most children lived with at least one sibling (79 percent). The majority
(64 percent) lived with one or two siblings, while 5 percent lived with
four or more siblings. Twelve percent of children younger than 18 lived
with a half sibling.

-- Overall, 13.4 million children lived in extended families containing
someone other than their parent or sibling. Of these, about 6.5 million
lived with at least one grandparent, with 1.6 million of these children
having no parent present.
-- Approximately 2.2 million children were living with a mother who
married, divorced or was widowed in the year prior to the survey date.

-- Of the 18.7 million children living with their unmarried biological
mothers, 18 percent had mothers who were living with unmarried partners. In
comparison, of the 4.2 million children living with their unmarried
biological fathers, 53 percent were living with fathers who were living
with an unmarried partner. Overall, 5 percent of children younger than 18
lived with a cohabiting parent.

posted by maggie at 10:10 AM | link

Divorce Indian Style

From "With India's new affluence comes the divorce generation," International Herald Tribune, February 19, 2008:

...The divorce boom [in India] partly reflects changes that have made it easier to leave marriages everywhere: taboos waning, laws loosening and women gaining financial independence. But there is perhaps another, more amorphous factor behind the change. Conversations with marriage counselors, divorce lawyers, social scientists and couples themselves suggest that, if divorce is rising, it is because of an underlying transformation of love.

Traditional Indian marriages had little to do with romance. Often but not always arranged, they were mergers between families of similar backgrounds and beliefs, and their principal purpose was baby-spawning. Love was strong but subliminal, expressed not in hand-holding and utterances of "I love you," but in a sense of mutual sacrifice and tolerance.

But in an India drenched in foreign influences - Hollywood in the theaters, teenagers named Sunita who call themselves "Sarah" and answer calls for Citibank's American customers - an imported idea of love is spreading.

Ever more couples marry each other for each other, out of personal enthrallment rather than a sense of family duty, and even arranged marriages come with new expectations of emotional fulfillment. And it is this new notion of love, with the couple at the core, that makes marriage both more riveting and more precarious than ever before, many Indians believe...

posted by Imapp Staff at 9:10 AM | link

83 years and counting. . . .

A Minnesota couple seeks to get into the Guiness Book of World Records as the world's longest married couple, here.
posted by maggie at 9:47 AM | link

RI Should Support Marriage Education

From "Rhode Island should support marriage education" by Scott Haltzman, Providence Journal, February 15, 2008:

Our governor now reports he wishes to support healthy marriages. The good news is that most (if not all) of the funds to pay for these programs will come from federal money already allocated for Rhode Islanders to use for this purpose. This is a great opportunity for the state, and we ought to take it...

[M]arriage is the only social arrangement that statistically 1) improves the health and well being of children, and 2) decreases the poverty of adults and children...

[A]ccording to the “Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study” (2003), when two parents choose not to marry or stay married, the chance of a child’s living in poverty increases three-fold. Poverty isn’t the only unintended consequence of divorce for children; the risk of teen pregnancy, emotional problems, substance abuse, school truancy and dropping out increase 2 1/2-fold once parents split apart.

Kids who are raised by married parents are two-thirds less likely to be victims of crime or incarcerated for committing a crime...[Marriage] tends to make life better for adults too. Joining — and staying joined — together in matrimony not only increases health and wealth, it actually reduces the incidence of domestic violence, mental illness, substance abuse and premature deaths of the individuals in the marriage. Marriage education is not about forcing people to marry who don’t wish to do so. It’s about giving couples access to learn how to make a relationship work...

posted by Imapp Staff at 9:26 AM | link

The Church Police

From "The latest news on the HRC controversy," Catholic Insight, February 2008:

TORONTO, FEB. 12, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Catholic Insight, a Canadian magazine known for its fidelity to Church teachings, has been targeted by the Canadian Human Rights Commission for publishing articles deemed offensive to homosexuals.

The commission has been investigating the Toronto-based publication since [a] homosexual activist...filed a nine-point complaint last February...in which he accuses the magazine of promoting "extreme hatred and contempt" against homosexuals...

[This] is just one of several complaints against Christians that Canada's human rights commissions have investigated in recent years. Despite assurance from politicians that Canadian faith communities would not be affected when the government legalized same-sex marriage, the number of complaints against Christians have only increased since 2005, say several concerned Christians...

posted by Imapp Staff at 9:12 AM | link

Children of Divorce Are Less Religious

Letter to the Editor: "Religion and Divorce," NY Times, February 17, 2008:

To the Editor:

“Religion Joins Custody Cases, to Judges’ Unease” ([NY Times] front page, Feb. 13) illustrates the tragic dimensions of divorce for millions of young people.

In a nationally representative survey of grown children of divorce that I conducted with Prof. Norval Glenn of the University of Texas-Austin, we found that children of divorce often feel torn between the dramatically different beliefs and value systems they find in each parent’s home, with religion in particular being a flashpoint.

The grown children of divorce are more likely to say they distrust their father’s or mother’s religious beliefs. Of those who were active in a church at the time of their parents’ divorce, two-thirds say that no one from the clergy or congregation reached out to them at that time.

Perhaps not surprisingly, when they grow up, the children of divorce are less religious over all than their peers who grew up with married parents. The data on their religious experience illustrate the deep inner struggles these young people face.

Parents considering divorce would be wise to take note.

Elizabeth Marquardt
Vice President for Family Studies, Institute for American Values
New York, Feb. 13, 2008

posted by Imapp Staff at 4:16 PM | link

God v. Law

From "When God and the Law Don’t Square," NY Times, February 17, 2008:

A PRETTY good way to generate an outcry, as the archbishop of Canterbury learned in Britain recently, is to say that a Western legal system should make room for Shariah, or Islamic law...

The archbishop...did not propose importing Shariah into the criminal law and was referring mostly to divorces in which both sides have agreed to abide by the judgment of a religious tribunal...

The larger question, legal experts in the United States said, is whether government courts should ever defer to religious ones...

Most fundamentally, some judgments from religious tribunals may be at odds with constitutional protections, human rights and basic notions of fairness.

In an article to be published shortly in The Washington and Lee Law Review, Robin Fretwell Wilson, a law professor at Washington and Lee University, wrote that Muslim women who decide to seek a divorce can face harsh financial consequences under Islamic law. “Threatened with the prospect of certain poverty,” she wrote, “some women will surely be forced to stay in an abusive relationship.”

Professor Wilson said in an interview that government courts should refuse to enforce any ruling from a religious tribunal that leaves a woman worse off than she would have been in a conventional divorce...

posted by Imapp Staff at 4:08 PM | link

In Middle East, Obstacles to Marriage Fuel Religious Revival

From "Dreams Stifled, Egypt’s Young Turn to Islamic Fervor," NY Times, February 17, 2008:

...Here in Egypt and across the Middle East, many young people are being forced to put off marriage, the gateway to independence, sexual activity and societal respect. Stymied by the government’s failure to provide adequate schooling and thwarted by an economy without jobs to match their abilities or aspirations, they are stuck in limbo between youth and adulthood...

And so, instead of marrying, [young] people wait and seek outlets for their frustrations...turning to religion for solace and purpose, pulling their parents and their governments along with them...

[T]here is near-universal agreement that young people are propelling an Islamic revival...

[T]his youthful religious fervor has enormous implications for the Middle East...

posted by Imapp Staff at 12:41 PM | link