Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 20, No. 14, Ed. 1 Friday, August 1, 2003 Page: 22 of 68
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Don't get caught with
your head in the sand...
Get early testing and
treatment for HIV.
Anonymous testing available
at these locations:
AIDS Resources of Rural Texas Weatherford.
Waxahachie. and Abilene
800-700-2037
AIDS Outreach Center - Fort Worth
817-335-1994
AIDS Outreach Center Arlington
817-275-3311
AIDS Outreach Center - Dallas
214-521-5124
Nelson-Tebedo Clinic - Dallas
214-528-2336
Jan Swanson, D.O.
Certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine
729 N. Fielder, Suite B
Arlington, TX 76012
Metro 817-226-6363
Specializing in HIV disease, women's health
issues, sleep disorders, & adult diseases such as
hypertension, diabetes. & high cholesterol.
and heads the Family Pride Coalition, a
Washington-based advocacy group.
"Most people know someone who's lesbian
or gay, in their communities, through their
kids' schools," she said. "It's through those
interactions that people come to understand
we all want the same things — to create safe,
loving environments for our kids."
Debate over the American family is not
new, but it has taken on extra intensity this
summer as the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that
homosexual sex could not be outlawed and
Canada moved to recognize same-sex mar-
riages. Foes of same-sex marriage in the
United States have been alarmed by the
events.
"Marriage at all times and in all civiliza-
tions has always meant the union of a man and
a woman in a permanent relationship," said
Rev. Gerald Kieschnick, president of the 2.6-
million member Lutheran Church-Missouri
Synod. "To mess around with it is to threaten
the very center of society — the family as it has
been historically and universally understood."
The federal government and 37 states have
adopted Defense of Marriage Acts in recent
years, defining marriage as a union between a
man and a woman. Yet the statutes, and a Bush
administration initiative to promote marriage,
have not slowed the growing acceptance and
recognition of other types of families and rela-
tionships:
• Scores of cities, counties and corporations
have adopted domestic-partner policies
extending rights and benefits to same-sex cou-
ples and in some cases to unmarried hetero-
sexual couples. The California Senate is now
considering a sweeping bill, approved by the
state Assembly, that would grant same-sex
partners most of the same spousal rights and
responsibilities as married couples.
• The New Mexico Supreme Court ruled in
June that people in long-term relationships,
married or not, can sue over loss of compan-
ionship when their loved one is injured.
Lawyers say the ruling sets the groundwork
for same-sex couples to file such claims.
• The supreme courts of Massachusetts and
New Jersey are considering lawsuits filed by
same-sex couples demanding the right to
marry. The number of newspapers publishing
announcements of same-sex unions has
climbed past 200, more than triple the figure in
2001.
• Civil rights lawyers are pressing a federal
lawsuit against a Florida law that prohibits
adoptions by gays, the only one of its kind in
the country. The Indiana Court of Appeals
recently ruled that a woman could adopt her
lesbian partner's three children, rejecting a
lower court ruling that the women could not
both adopt because they aren't married.
A generation ago, adoptions by single peo-
ple were rare. Now, about one-third of all
adoptions in the United States are by single
parents, mostly women but also a growing
number of men like James Carter.
A property manager at a Philadelphia
apartment complex, Carter has adopted three
boys within the past three years, ages 10, 11
and 16.
"I always wanted to be a father," Carter
said. "It's the best thing that's ever happened
to me.... I would do any tiring for my boys."
He said he has received steady support
from relatives, his employer and adoption
agency staff.
"They didn't push me under the rug, they
didn't talk down to me," he said. "The only
advice they gave was that I shouldn't be look-
ing for a perfect child, because there isn't one."
Gloria Hochman of the National Adoption
Center said adoption agencies are gradually
overcoming their hesitancies about single men
because of the track record established by
divorced fathers who, in growing numbers, are
gaining custody of their children.
"When we opened our doors 30 years ago,
it never occurred to me that we'd be giving our
Family of the Year award to a single man,"
Hochman said. "We didn't think they'd be
interested."
In South Orange, N.J., Fran Lipinski said
she and her partner of 22 years, Melissa Hall,
have been heartened by the community
acceptance of their family, which since 1998
has included a daughter, Catherine, adopted
from China.
When the two women were granted joint
custody of Catherine, "it was a very upbeat
ceremony," Lipinski recalled. "The judge came
down off the bench to give us hugs and the kid
a lollipop."
Lipinski said the Family Pride Coalition
sponsored a workshop for local school
employees, and close to 100 teachers showed
up for advice on how to make nontraditional
families feel included in school activities.
Welcoming
Church
In Oak Cliff
q Trinity
rRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (usa)
A welcoming church in the Oak Cliff community,
invites you into its ministry, service and life without
regard to race, ethnic origin, gender, marital status,
handicap, age, sexual orientation, worldly condition,
or any other reason not related to profession of faith.
tj Trinity
Jr RESBYTERIAN CHURCH
901 N. Zang Blvd.
(Between Davis & Colorado)
in North Oak Cliff
V 214.948.7134
www.TrinityPresDallas.org
Dr. Julie Adkins, Pastor
Wayne Davis, Dir. Of Music
Danny Ray, Organist
22
AUGUST l, 2003
DALLAS VOICE
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Vercher, Dennis. Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 20, No. 14, Ed. 1 Friday, August 1, 2003, newspaper, August 1, 2003; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth616382/m1/22/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.