Archive for December, 2009
Happy Holidays to everyone on our family tree*
Season’s Greetings from the Alternatives to Marriage Project
May Your New Year be Merry and Bright!
*The Census estimates that, from 2006-2008, in all the homes in the U.S., 27% were occupied by people living alone (15% women and 12% men); 27% by married couples without children; 23% by spouses with children; 5% by unmarried different-sex couples and 1% same-sex couples (with or without kids); and 17% were completely different kinds of friends and families.
AtMP’s e-newsletter is now online
This morning, AtMP members world-wide received our email newsletter. You can read it here.
If you’d like to comment on an article or send a letter to the editor, please click “Comments” below.
Possible plus-one benefits for VA state workers
Virginia’s Department of Human Resource Management is considering a regulation that would create plus-one health insurance for state employees. Sounds very exciting, but there’s a catch. Benefits for employees’ spouses would be paid for by the state, but employees who share their benefits with Other Qualifying Adults would have to pay the entire premium themselves, from after-tax dollars. Thanks to Meaghan for the tip and Pablo for the research!
(I’d really like AtMP to submit comments while this regulation is being debated, and help members in VA do so as well. But, year-end fundraising takes precedence over everything else on my desk. You can help AtMP focus on policy instead of funding by making a tax-deductible donation today!)
Marriage vote in NY… what more can we say?
The topic of same-sex marriage has been covered so many times, there’s not much more to say. But I do like the way AtMP supporter and Columbia Law professor Katherine Franke puts it.
Every child deserves a family
Over 129,000 foster children in the U.S. are hoping to be adopted. However, some people who want to be parents are currently being kept from fulfilling their dream of adopting a child, solely because of their marital status. Many of these individuals would be great parents, they just need to be given that chance.
Each potential parent should be screened carefully, just like any other. Only the best interests of each child should determine who is right for them.
The recently proposed Every Child Deserves a Family Act would require states and agencies to treat all children and families equally.
TAKE ACTION: Tell Congress all foster children need homes now!
For more information, read a personal story by AtMP member, Freddie O’Connell. Read a press release and full text of the bill. Visit our main adoption page.
