USA: Joint Chiefs Call for Don't Ask Don't Tell Repeal - After 11 Month Study

The nation's top two defense officials called Tuesday for an end to the 16-year-old "don't ask, don't tell" policy, a major step toward allowing openly gay men and women to serve in the U.S. military for the first time. "No matter how I look at the issue, I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens," Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee. He said it was his personal belief that "allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do."

Mullen is the first sitting Joint Chiefs chairman to support a repeal of the policy, and the forceful expression of his views seemed to catch not only gay-rights leaders but Sen. Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who is the committee's chairman, by surprise. Levin, a longtime proponent of ending the law, told Mullen his testimony was "eloquent."

In 1993, Gen. Colin Powell, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs, opposed allowing gay men and lesbians to serve openly but supported "don't ask, don't tell" as the compromise was passed by Congress. Under the policy, officers aren't supposed to inquire about sexual orientation or seek to know it, while service members are to keep quiet about it.

Full Story from the Seattle Times
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Australia: Group Calculates Cost of Gay Marriage Ban to Country: $700 Million

Australia's ban on same-sex marriage costs the Australian economy over $700 million according to figures released today by Australian Marriage Equality (AME). Using a simple formula developed by economists in the United States, AME has multiplied the average cost of weddings in Australia with the percentage of Australia's same-sex couples who would marry if they had the choice.

The last Census indicated that there are at least 50,000 same-sex couples, however the Bureau of Statistics admits that the actual figure would higher than that due to the way information is recorded. "Not so Private Lives", a recent national study conducted at the University of Queensland, showed that at least 53% of these couples would marry if they could. The ABS in 2007 calculated the average cost of a wedding at $28,000 (although recent studies have the figure as high as $49,000). When you pull these figures together you get an amount of $742,000,000.

AME's figures are in line with recent US studies that have shown allowing same-sex marriage would generate US$200 million for the New Jersey economy over 3 years and US$21 million for the city of San Francisco in 1 year alone.

Full Story from Seeking Media
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New Report: Gay/Lesbian Married Couples Just Like Straight Spouses

A new analysis of Census data that provides a demographic snapshot of gay families in America shows that same-sex couples who identify as married are similar to straight spouses in terms of age and income — and nearly one-third of them are raising children. The study released Monday by a think tank based at the University of California, Los Angeles looked at Census data from last year. It also found that Utah, Wyoming and other states that don't offer any legal recognition of gay relationships had some of the highest percentages of same-sex couples who describe themselves as husbands or wives. Full Story from AP: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gCdZqWgPVPTXeB1bQGw_j7YOIvHAD9BNOHO80

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New Study Shows Gay/Lesbian Couples face Significant Disadvantages in Retirement

A new study released today details the inequalities faced by same-sex couples in employer-sponsored retirement plans. Without legal recognition of their relationships under federal law, the report concludes, lesbians and gay men have less retirement income and are disadvantaged in their ability to pass on savings to their families after their death. The study, "The Impact of Inequality for Same-Sex Partners in Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plans," provides the first detailed demographic portrait of older same-sex couples. It was released by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law with funding support from Merrill Lynch in conjunction with National Save for Retirement Week. "The findings show that, in particular, female same-sex couples have far less retirement income than different-sex married couples," says study author Naomi Goldberg. Full Story from Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS184944+23-Oct-2009+PRN20091023

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New Zealand Study Looks at Difficulties Facing Gay/Lesbian Families

The authors of We're a family: A study of how lesbians and gay men are creating and maintaining family in New Zealand spoke to couples who had children by assisted reproduction, and some who were bringing children into a 'rainbow family' from a previous heterosexual relationship. "For donor families," co-researcher Nicola Surtees says, "the challenges focused on how best to achieve assisted reproduction. For instance, access to sperm was not automatic. The numbers of donors available via fertility services prepared to assist lesbian couples to conceive, as well as the numbers of men approached through social networks that were willing to help, were limited. "Approval processes and waiting lists at fertility services, coupled with lengthy searches for, and negotiation with, potential donors, were also contributing factors to delaying inseminations." Full Story from GayNZ: http://www.gaynz.com/articles/publish/2/article_7967.php

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