NEWS ROUNDUP: MODERN FAMILIES, HUNG JUDGES AND A FRENCH KISS

Photo Credit: Gérard Julien/ AFP

Lots of haps, folks, ranging from the delightful to the utterly baffling. In no particular order:

The Netherlands kind of sort of considers extending parental rights beyond just two people

Not a ton of information on this other than this story from the AFP. Basically, the justice ministry “is going to investigate and see what the possibilities are for recognising three parents or more per family.” It’s a move specifically designed to be more accommodating to non-biological parents and to families in which, say, a sperm donor or surrogate plays a role in the family in addition to the child’s main parents. An interesting idea, but I can’t even begin to imagine the amount of legal BS it would create in the US Frankensystem. Speaking of which:

Surrogacy laws are still super confusing

This week the New Jersey supreme court justices found themselves unable to agree on whether a woman whose three-year-old was born to a surrogate is legally the child’s mother. The woman was denied legal parental rights without adoption in appellate court last year, so the supreme court’s non-decision means the earlier decision stands.

The argument from her side was that since men who are infertile are still automatically fathers of children born to their wives after artificial insemination, then the same should hold true for a woman. Seems pretty reasonable, but three judges disagreed, writing that allowing her to bypass the adoption step would amount to “elevating one class of infertile people, who would otherwise be required to adopt, above all other adopters based solely on their ability to access and afford new technologies.” That’s right, you infertile people with your fancy reproductive technologies, you ALL get the same shitty treatment, no matter how much money it cost you to have your child! (Except, um, those of you who are straight men with fertile wives.)

For more, check out the full story at the New York Times, IC’s resources on surrogacy and this very informative map of surrogacy laws by state (from Diane S. Hinson via the NYT).

2012 US presidential debates come, go without any mention of marriage equality or LGBTQ rights

…or climate change, while we’re at it. Moving right along!

French people protest same-sex marriage with avant garde theatre

Homophobia meets absurdism in this really weird demonstration against same-sex marriage in France earlier this week:

I’m not entirely clear on what the “argument” here is, but my guess is that it has something to do with pinball or magnets. Alternative readings are welcome. Anyway, two teenage girls took the opportunity to counter-protest by smooching in the middle of the protest, and cheers went up all over the Twitterverse!