Interracial Marriage

An interesting commercial that aired in California during the Proposition 8 debates, has really got me thinking about the comparison between the plight of same-sex couples today and that of interracial couples in decades past.

I found an interesting map showing when interracial relationships finally became legal in each of the states. It may just surprise you. American views of interracial marriage have likewise changed drastically over the past 40 years.

Now check out this map showing the status of same-sex marriage statutes across the states. Will the next 40 years bring the same societal changes for same-sex couples that the past 40 years have brought for interracial couples? What do you think?

Miss California on Same-sex Marriage

I'm sure you've all caught wind of the "scandalous comment" by Miss California at the Miss USA Pagent Sunday night. When asked her view on same-sex marriage, Carrie Prejean relied "We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite. And you know what, I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that's how I was raised." Many say it is this comment cost Carrie Prejean the crown.

Then there's the comment reported by Fox news... "It's ugly," said Scott Ihrig, a gay man, who attended the pageant with his partner. "I think it's ridiculous that she got first runner-up. That is not the value of 95 percent of the people in this audience. Look around this audience and tell me how many gay men there are." Okay, I'm off topic. I just didn't realize that the great american beauty pagent could be such an important forum for family policy debate. Then again...

• 2007- Miss New Jersey, Ashley Harder, was forced to give up her crown when she became pregnant, unwed
• 2006- Miss USA,Tara Connor & Miss Teen USA, Katie Blair thrust the issue of teen drug use into the spotlight. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) quickly dropped Katie Blair as their spokeswoman against underage drinking
• 1957- Miss USA, Leona Gage, lost her crown when is was discovered she had lied about her age....and the fact she was married with two kids

Ever feel like a piece of bologna?

Millions of Americans are facing the daily battle of providing care for their own children while simultaneoulsy providing care for ailing parents. These caregivers have descriptively been termed the "sandwich generation." The physical, emotional, financial, and time demands on these caretakers is huge. Check out this video in which the Winokur family shares what it is like to be part of the sandwich.

There are important family and social policy implications for the sandwiched family. The National Family Caregiver Assoication states "the value of the services family caregivers provide for "free" is estimated to be $306 billion a year. That is almost twice as much as is actually spent on homecare and nursing home services combined ($158 billion)." How does social policy support or fail to support these family caregivers?

Golden Years vs. Wonder Years

I found a great video clip that address many of the issues faced by grandparents who are raising their grandchildren. Grandparents are finding themselves raising their grandchildren in record numbers due to such things as drug use, death, imprisonment, teen births, AIDS, and divorce. One grandparent explained, "I'm supposed to be enjoying my golden years, but instead I'm now caring for my grandkids who are entering their wonder years."

The video addresses some of the policy and legal complications grandparents face in caring for their grandchildren. Organizaitons like Grandparents As Parents (GAP) are sprouting up around the nation to reach out, provide support and help these families navigate the system.

Grandparents as Parents

We now turn to another diverse family form. One in twelve children in the United States is being raised by a grandparent or relative. A couple of years ago, Primetime did a story on one such family, Nina McGonegal (57) of Delaware and her two grandchildren, Erika (16) and Matthew (13). Like many grandparents, she is caring for her grandchildren due to drug use and imprisonment of the middle generation.

These families often face extraordinary challenges. Most do not have legal custody of their grandchildren (a messy court battle is often required), making the relationship a tenuous one. Many grandparents have to stop working in order to care for their grandchildren, making finances tight. "If the children they're raising were in foster care, their foster parents would receive on average, about $500 a month for each child. In Delaware, a grandparent receives $201 a month for the first grandchild, and $69 a month for the second child." In some states, no financial assistance is available.

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Family and social policies often neglect to take into account the experiences of this family form, often placing roadblocks to services rather than alleviating them. Shouldn't we be supporting these grandparents in their efforts to care for and raise their at-risk grandchildren?

Federal Law Suit: Benefits for Same-Sex Couples

An article in the New York Times announced that the Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders group plans to file suit in Federal District Court in Boston to challenge the Defense of Marriage Act which prevents same-sex couples from accessing some 1,100 federal rights and benefits based on marital status. The suit is based on grounds of equal-protection, a constitutional mandate that laws must be equally applied to everyone. The plaintiffs, eight couples and three widowers, were all married in Massachusetts, applied for various federal benefits and were denied due to the Defense of Marriage Act.

The federal suit will not challenge the provision of the Defense of Marriage Act (1996), which preserves the right of states to not recognize or treat relationships between same-sex couples as marriage, but will narrowly focus on equal protection for married same-sex couples regarding federal income tax, Social Security, federal employees and retirees and passport issuance. This suit will be the first in federal courts in which married same-sex couples who have applied for and been denied federal benefits.

This will be an interesting case to follow. What do you think the outcome will be? Will the law suit fly or be shot down?

Are the cards stacked?

An important thing I am coming to understand from taking this social policy class, is how broad the impact of how we decide to define "family" is on the lives of American families.

I came upon an interesting article, Binational Couples and Same-Sex Immigration, which brought up a whole other issue I've never really considered before. Because the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996 prohibits federal recognition of same-sex couples in the United States, American citizens who are gay or lesbian and have foreign partners are not able to bring their partners into the United States. There have been several attempts in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, and 2007 to remedy this, all unsuccessful. Now in 2009, the Uniting American Families Act has been introduced which would allow the same criteria used for heterosexual nationals to bring their partners to the United States to be extended to gay/lesbian nationals.

I've thought a lot the past couple of weeks about the many similarities between the current gay/lesbian rights movement and the civil rights movements of women and blacks. Back in the day (and arguably still today) these groups were seen as deficient. It was the common belief, both in general society and in the scientific community, that these groups were not as competent as white males. Studies verified this position, justifying discriminatory practices.

It makes me wonder about the many studies commonly referenced today which state that heterosexual families are much better for children and their development than are homosexual families. Is it possible that the methodologies and/or construct definitions utilized in these studies are biased against same-sex families? Perhaps, inadvertently, these studies were set up in such a way to ensure that heterosexual families come out on top. Are same sex families really so detrimental to children?