Marriage & Family Headlines

Toronto Star: "Late-blooming lesbians have gained some mainstream visibility in recent years thanks to celebrities like Cynthia Nixon and Portia de Rossi . . . The subject is also starting to garner academic attention, with researchers trying to understand how women’s sexuality — and capacity for same-sex relationships — might be different than men's . . . But 'there are more shades of grey to women's attraction,' [Richard Lippa, professor of psychology at California State University] says. Women, he says, tend to have a preferred sex and less preferred sex. Women are much more likely than men to report some degree of same-sex attraction."

Law.com: "A new legal effort to force California's governor and attorney general to defend Proposition 8 in court may have some political potency, but is unlikely to win in court, legal observers say . . . There's a high standard to win a writ of mandamus. And in this case, the Pacific Justice Institute, which filed the petition, is up against issues of executive branch discretion, the separation of powers doctrine and an ambiguous state statute regarding the attorney general's obligation -- or discretion -- to defend the state in lawsuits, said UC Hastings College of the Law professor and appellate expert Rory Little."

Mercury News (AP): "A California court has refused to order Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown to appeal a ruling that overturned the state's gay marriage ban."

Megan Mcardle writing at The Atlantic: "If we're evolved to be polyamorous, why do we also seem to be evolved to be extraordinarily possessive? . . . Lifetime monogamy may not be the evolved human template. But I'm pretty sure that carefree polyamory isn't either."

WVRecord.com: "Elementary school playgrounds in Cabell County are losing their swing sets in part because of lawsuits over injuries. Cabell County school safety manager Tim Stewart said the removal process began two weeks ago at Meadows Elementary and may not be completed until Christmas break . . . Stewart said a lot of parents are accusing him of being un-American, but he says the cost of maintaining a safe surface is too expensive . . ."

"The largest polygamous group in North America only wants to participate in the trial to determine whether Canada's anti-polygamy law is constitutional if its members can provide testimony anonymously, under pseudonyms or behind a screen."

Washington Post: "Teaching about polyamory but not about monogamy or abstinence? . . . Brooks notes that denizens of the sex industry have been involved in some of the events . . . "

Mercator.net: "This widely-discussed book seems to be about the differences between red states and blue states, between socially conservative and socially liberal America. In fact, it is about the differences between college educated women and everyone else. You could say this book is the “soft power” version of class warfare. The rich are deliberately making war on the poor, not to expropriate their material resources, but to establish social hegemony. They want complete social approval and legal support for a lifestyle from which they benefit and which harms others . . . "

One News Now: An organization in Iowa is hard at work to get new faces on that state's highest court. An effort is under way to seat some new justices on the Iowa State Supreme Court, some 18 months after the court ruled in favor of same-sex "marriage." Bob Vander Plaats -- who came up short in early June in his bid for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in The Hawkeye State -- is one of the organizers of Iowa for Freedom.

Texas Lawyer (Law.com): "James 'Jody' Scheske, a partner in the Austin office of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld who represents J.B., says he is disappointed with the decision and his client will likely appeal."

Ginny LaRoe writes at the Recorder: "A new legal effort to force California's governor and attorney general to defend Proposition 8 in court may have some political potency, but is unlikely to win in court, legal observers say."

Military.com: "In what was likely his last appearance in the Pentagon briefing room, soon-to-be retiring Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway once more waded into the 'don’t ask, don’t tell' waters with his straight-shooter candor by suggesting that 'very religious' Marines with 'moral concerns' about homosexuality might not be forced to live with their gay battle buddies."

EducationNews: "Alabama made national headlines this week when 25 more schools reported they will likely have to extend lines of credit to remain open, in addition to the five schools that borrowed from banks last year."

Vermont Public Radio (audio) interviews an attorney who advocated for marriage redefinition.

"More Tennessee couples are opting to try before they buy, living together for years and even raising children together before marriage — or with no plans to marry at all. The result is a steep drop in the state's marriage rate. While the U.S. marriage rate per thousand dropped 14.4 percent between 1998 and 2008, Tennessee's dropped 36 percent, state health department and U.S. census figures show . . . "

Christian Post: Six in 10 American “Millennials” – those born between 1980 and 1991 – see nothing wrong with two people of the same gender getting married. But men, African-Americans and Southerners are least comfortable among their peers with same-sex marriage, and for the most part Christian Millennials oppose it. These are the findings from a LifeWay Research study for an upcoming book by Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources, and son Jess Rainer titled “The Millennials: Connecting to America’s Largest Generation.”

KULR8.com: "The state of Montana is asking for more time to respond to a lawsuit brought by seven same sex couples in the state." | ACLU information and filings

One News Now: "A pro-family activist who is working to expose the truth about homosexuality finds it absolutely appalling that former Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman Ken Mehlman was able to "beat back" Republican efforts against homosexual "marriage" while hiding his own homosexual lifestyle."

The Telegraph: "Civil unions for same-sex partners in Illinois may be on the agenda for the November legislative veto session. A leading gay-rights activist said Senate Bill 1716 has garnered enough votes among lawmakers to pass both Democratic-controlled chambers."

ADF attorney Kevin Theriot writes at the Speak Up Movement Church Blog cross posted at the Christian Post Advancing Liberty Blog : "Disturbing, but not surprising, is the feedback Colson has received from pastors who refuse to sign the document [The Manhattan Declaration] because it would mean they lose half their congregation. This is not a radical document. It simply says abortion is wrong, marriage is between a man and woman, and religious freedom is important. If conservative Christians of all denominations cannot unite behind such a simple, biblically based declaration, the Body of Christ is in trouble."