Kudos to the District 2 School Board Coalition for endorsing Heather Arnet to run for the school board seat being vacated by Highland Park resident Patrick Dowd.   Arnet, also a Highland Park resident, is the Executive Director of the Women and Girls Foundation of Southwestern Pennsylvania. 

The Correspondents (and the Lesbians) are long-time fans of Arnet for her great work on behalf of women and girls throughout the region, including women and girls in the queer community.  As we are city residents, we are especially pleased that Arnet is turning her tremendous talent to the oversight of one of our most important resources - the public schools.

Go Heather!

Lawmakers in Massachusetts are in the midst of a Constitutional Convention and a vote today paved the way for a constitutional amendment barring gay marriage to move forward.  To make it onto the ballot, the amendment must pass in another legislative session.

You might recall the Massachusetts is the only state in which gay marriage is legal.  Existing marriages would be intact, but no further marriages recognized.  Ahem.

This has been a highly contentious issue of late with anti-marriage proponents insisting that legislative refusal to vote on the matter was undemocratic.  Even the high court weighed in on the matter, chastising lawmakers for not voting while acknowledging that there was no way to compel a vote.

Since when have "the people" been the best-suited to determine civil rights issues for minorities?  This is just bullshit back-of-the-bus politics that will decimate the existing rights of gays in Massachusetts to appease yet another interest group with more power.

The courts and the lawmakers completely wimped out on this matter.  They have made it clear that the gay community cannot simply sit around and wait for those in power to recognize and honor our rights as citizens and human beings. 

The PG ran an interesting commentary by Slate's William Saletan who contemplates the oft-cited but never actually proven claim that homosexuals are not fit parents.

The 30-year search for proof that gay parents are destructive looks a lot like the hunt for WMD.

Saletan uses the conception and pregnancy of Mary Cheney to illustrate his point that there's simply no proof that gays make bad parents.  There's a lot of date however, that heterosexual men do a lot of damage to children than lesbians.  If you want to rely on averages to make parenting decisions as in who should and should not parent.

If you're going to base family policy on averages, the chief problem isn't stepparents; it's men. That's what "pro-family" groups keep covering up. According to Focus on the Family, "increased risks of physical and sexual child abuse at the hands of non-biological parents are another serious concern for same-sex families." Nope, not for lesbians. The latest study the group cites actually concludes that the "key risk factors are living with a stepfather or the mother's boyfriend." Of 55 child deaths reviewed in the study, the number caused by a stepmother or by a biological mother in a stepfamily or live-in relationship was zero.

I don't think Mary's pregnancy warrants all this attention. The fact that she is a dyke is more than mitigated by the fact that she's the daughter of an incredibly rich and powerful white man.  I'm sure she'll be able to raise a child of privilege in a manner befitting any other uptown chic.  Now what would be interesting is if Heather were to be the biological parent b/c then Mary would have no legal relationship with their child (they live in Virginia).  Regardless, Mary and Heather could spawn a dozen children between them and still have no clue of what life is like for the average homosexual parent.  And as long as they support a President who embraces the wingnuts, they deserve no kudos for gay milestones.

Back to William's piece ...

You want to protect kids? Here's my proposed constitutional amendment: "Marriage in the United States shall consist of a union involving at least one woman."

Or you could just let Mary Cheney raise her child in peace.

Amen.