Wis. court: Gay parents do not have equal rights

A woman who raised two adopted children for years in a same-sex relationship is not considered their parent under Wisconsin law, an appeals court ruled in late June.

The court ruled against a woman who was seeking legal guardianship of two children for whom she had been a stay-at-home mother. The District 4 Court of Appeals ruled that only the woman’s former partner is their parent since the adoptions were done under the partner’s name.

The woman, identified in court records only as Wendy because of the confidentiality surrounding guardianship proceedings, had been in a domestic relationship for 7 years before the couple decided to adopt a child from Guatemala in 2002. They adopted a second child from there in 2004.

In an interview, Wendy said she would consider asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to overturn the decision.

“For someone like me that was in a relationship for 12 years and a stay-at-home mom for 7, I shouldn’t have to fight to parent my kids who I’ve been parenting 24-7,” she said. “For me to read in the court documents that I’m not a parent is disturbing and troubling.’’

Same-sex couples do not have adoption rights in Wisconsin, meaning that only one of them can be considered the legal parent. In this case, Wendy’s partner, identified in court records as Liz, was named the legal parent so the children could be added to her health care plan.

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Wis. Warriors aim for 2nd title

The Wisconsin Warriors, southeastern Wisconsin’s full-contact women’s football team, is California-bound for its second play-off game on July 10.

Team owner Jodi von Spreckelsen said the team ended its season with a 5-3 record, making it first in the Independent Women’s Football League’s Tier 2 Midwest division.

The Warriors, who play on Ameche Field at Tremper High School in Kenosha, is a relatively new team. This is only its third season. Despite their youth, however, the Warriors was the 2009 North American Champions - a title team members hope to hold on to this year. To help the team get to California and meet that goal, the Warriors has been fundraising. In addition to a raffle and several bar events, the team’s Web site at www.wiwarriors.com has a “Sponsor a Player” page that accepts donations through PayPal. Von Spreckelsen said the cost to send the entire team to the playoff game is “hefty,” and some players are paying their own way. Once they’ve returned, the fundraising will continue with a spaghetti dinner, where if all has gone their way, Warriors’ fans can celebrate victory with team members.

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Green Bay shows its Pride

On Saturday, July 10, the third annual Pride Alive will paint Joannes Park in Green Bay ROYGBIV. In addition to food and beverage vendors, the festival features a full schedule of entertainers, including Flame Shark, The Charles Walker Band and Green Bay-based Glamarama Cabaret. Two nationally known acts, comedy duo Deven Green and Joel Bryant and dance/house musician Ultra Nate, will round out the day’s performance schedule.

Pride Alive grew out of a series of town-hall meetings in northeastern Wisconsin held by Fair Wisconsin in the aftermath of the state’s same-sex marriage ban. “We painstakingly reached out and said, ‘This is your Pride - what do you want it to be?’” says Andrew DeBaker, co-chair of New Pride, organizes the event.

The festival draws visitors from the local area as well as the U.P., Milwaukee and Madison – and even as far away as Chicago and Minneapolis, according to DeBaker. Nearly 40 percent of the guests who were surveyed at the event last year identified as straight allies, he says.

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Event supports Jim Sullivan for re-election

LGBT-supportive state Sen. Jim Sullivan, D-Wauwatosa, is holding a campaign picnic from 1–3 p.m. on Saturday, June 19, at McCarty Park on West Beloit Road and South 78th Street in West Allis.

Participants are invited to arrive at noon to help distribute campaign literature to the neighborhoods surrounding the park.

For more information, call 414-443-0644.