Beams of light > Guiding lights > Support groups
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Beth McGarrity forced a smile as she rejoined a group of moms around the dining room table in a spacious home in Newcastle-on-Tyne, England. A few months earlier, in the summer of 2000, she and her husband, Russ, had moved to England from Cincinnati with their two young children for Russ' promotion with Procter & Gamble. Now, they mingled at a barbecue with the families of other expat employees and their friends.
Outside, 2-year-old Alyson* tumbled after a soccer ball with the boys in the tree-shaded backyard as Russ and the other dads looked on. Upstairs, 5-year-old Russie* laughed with a group of girls as they sorted through pink dresses and layers of chiffon. Twice, Beth had gone up the big staircase. "Russie, do you want to go outside and play some football?" she'd asked. "No," he had said, looking puzzled the first time; upset the second. "I'm having fun here."
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Owens, whose tough reputation saw him chosen to referee the 2015 World Cup final, said accepting himself was the biggest challenge of his career.
"I didn't want to be gay," Owens, who came out in 2007. "I actually went to the doctor at one stage to see if I could be chemically castrated in any way, if it would get rid of me being gay. "Looking back at that it was a horrific thing that one would have to do but that's what I was going through at the time.
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Mexico's Supreme Court ruled on August 11, 2015, that a 2013 law in the southeastern state of Campeche that forbids same-sex couples from adopting children is unconstitutional and struck it down. The challenge to the ban was filed by the state's human rights commission. Supreme Court Judge Margarita Luna announced her intention to present the motion on a federal level in early July. Gay marriages and adoption laws are largely legal in the country's heartland, though several far-flung states witness more opposition.
The state law was struck down in a 9-1 ruling. Presiding Judge Luis Maria Aguila said the decision was made keeping in mind the protection of adopted children.
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Same-sex marriage is legally recognized nationwide in 21 countries as of June 26, 2015: Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, United Kingdom, United States, Sweden and Uruguay.
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The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday, June 26, 2015 made marriage for same-sex couples legal nationwide, declaring that refusing to grant marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples violates the Constitution. The landmark ruling will produce the most significant change in laws governing matrimony since the court struck down state bans on inter-racial marriage almost 50 years ago.
A total of 36 states now permit gay couples to get married, covering roughly 70 percent of the US population. Today's ruling means the bans must end in the other 14 states -- Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas.
The decision capped a remarkably quick turnaround in public and judicial acceptance of same-sex marraige. In the past 18 months, court rulings struck down marriage bans in rapid succession -- nearly 60 separate decisions in more than half the states.
