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One of the more appealing-sounding arguments in the social conservative arsenal is that children need a mother and a father. This is often trotted out as an argument against same-sex marriage. But is it? I could even agree with this claim.

It seems likely that children benefit from having two nurturing and attentive parents of opposite sexes. But this argument, such as it is, is based on an idealized two-parent family on the model of the 1950s television sitcom “Father Knows Best.” But for many people, changing social and economic circumstances have made that model difficult, if not impossible. Single women bear and rear children, parents divorce. Increasingly both parents work, leaving little time for child-rearing. In recognition of these realities, almost every state allows single-parent adoption. The argument is that having one parent is better than having no parents at all. And nothing prevents two men or two women with a child from living together and rearing a child together.

The gay conservative group GoProud showed courage and commitment in co-sponsoring the recent Conservative Political Action Convention in Washington. Although many in the LGBT community might differ with the group on a number of public policy issues, we can all applaud them for daring to be out and proud in the very lion’s den of right-wing activism.

While GoProud leaders said they were well-received by libertarian Republicans, far-right Christians at the event were openly hostile. GoProud was subjected to harshly anti-gay rhetoric from the podium, and its members were sometimes marginalized behind the scenes. A representative from the National Organization for Marriage shook GoProud members’ hands in front of CNN cameras, but fired off a scathing press release about their presence behind their backs.

Obama said it in his State of The Union address: Let gay Americans serve their country. Do away with the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

The camera then got a shot of the men in official military uniform who all did not clap at the idea the president had proposed. Maybe they were just being polite, maybe they didn’t clap because they hated the idea of gays being “out” in the military. Nevertheless the fact remains that the DADT policy has been oppressing gay people for as long as it has been employed.

Gay marriage is not like abortion.

This might seem obvious — one is about keeping a life from starting, the other is about joining two lives together — but in fact, gay marriage is compared to abortion a lot.

U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker is gay. Which means that the Proposition 8 case will be decided by someone it directly impacts.

The question of the month is: Is this fair?

In the ad, the two men are watching the Big Game.

They are scruffy, wearing football jerseys, and appear to be straight.

In Uganda, the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009 was introduced in Parliament in October 2009. The bill targets lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Ugandans, their advocates, and those who know someone LGBT. It would reaffirm existing penalties for homosexuality and introduce sweeping new criminal provisions. Some of these troubling provisions include: imprisonment for life for anyone convicted of the “offence of homosexuality”; punishment for the “promotion of homosexuality” with prison terms; imprisonment for up to three years for anyone who fails to report to the authorities LGBT people or LGBT human rights defenders they know; and most egregiously, the application of the death penalty to anyone in Uganda who has consensual same-sex relations repeatedly or who has consensual same-sex relations and is HIV positive. If this bill were to pass, it would be a devastating blow to the human rights of all Ugandans and would significantly impede effective HIV prevention and care.

I’ve fallen behind in my reading lately, so I am only now getting to “Uncommon Sense” by Gary Becker and Richard Posner. As some readers may know, Becker is a professor of economics at the University of Chicago and Posner is a judge on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and a lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School.

The book reprints some of the essays from their blog on a wide variety of topics — from doping athletes, file sharing and capital punishment to CEO compensation and eminent domain.

Something really phenomenal is about to happen. Something so monumental that a huge shift in awareness might even take place.

In light of my 13 years of surviving with HIV and the current social stigma surrounding HIV in this country, I am about to embark on something pretty scary.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama made it clear that he favored repealing the onerous “don’t ask, don’t tell” law that bars openly gay men and women from serving in the military.

But during his first year in office, Obama was virtually silent about the

The commander in chief has called for repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell.” So have Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and even retired Army Gen. Colin Powell, who once held Mullen’s title and previously backed the policy.

And so has the American public – by a 75 percent majority, according to polls.

There are tons of issues related to dating in your 20s, but should getting married really be one of them?

My brother celebrated his 18th birthday this month and he plans on marrying his 18-year-old girlfriend within the year. He’s already purchased the ring, though neither of them has finished high school yet.