The Week in Review

New Jersey Gay Marriage Bill
Last night the New Jersey state Sentate Judiciary Committee voted 7 to 6 to hand down a bill to the full Senate that would legalize gay marriage in NJ. The legislation was scheduled to head to the full Senate today, Thursday, December 10th, but has been delayed due to fear that the bill does not have enough votes. According to gay365.com, "Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts has not committed to posting the bill." Let's just hope that we can get enough Senate votes to pass it before time runs out in January.

Annise Parker the first Openly Gay Mayor of Houston, TX?
Annise Parker has been facing a lot of opposition from anti-LGBT forces in her race to become Mayor of Houston. Yet polls show she has a slight lead over her opponent and this weekend could become Houston, TX's first openly gay mayor. Parker and her life partner, Kathy Hubbard, have been together for almost 20 years and have two children. (Click here for more information about the opposition she's been facing.)

Comprehensive Sex Education in Pennsylvania?
A new bill in the Pennsylvania legislature would flip the 'opt-out' for sex education. The current policy "allows parents an opt-out if, for religious or other reasons, they'd prefer their kids don't get comprehensive education" (examiner.com). This comprehensive education includes information on birth control and pregnancy prevention as well as how to prevent sexually transmitted infections. "The new bill, sponsored by Represenatative Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Luzerne, would require public schools to notify parents if the sex-ed curriculum teaches only abstinence when it comes to preventing pregnancy and the spread of disease" (examiner.com).

This bill is something we should all push for. Current abstinence-only education overlooks and ignores those in the LGBT community and puts all young persons at a disadvantage. According to examiner.com, "abstinence-only education programs have been proven to have no effect at all on the sexual activity of teenagers who participate in them." This means that while teenagers are still having sex, they are uninformed on how to protect themselves from disease and pregnancy.