Area gay parents voice concerns about rights


Like any other parent, Karen Bellavance-Grace cherishes the moments big and small: a walk with her sons, a visit with grandparents, a review of a stellar report card.

But as a gay mother who adopted her children through the state Department of Social Services, the Northampton resident also watches with dismay as Gov. W. Mitt Romney maneuvers to allow the Roman Catholic Church to wiggle around anti-discrimination laws that protect gay adoptions.

Romney filed legislation this month to allow Catholic adoption agencies in Springfield, Worcester and Fall River to refuse to consider gays on religious grounds. The move followed a decision by Catholic Charities of Boston to halt its adoption services after learning that it had to accept gay applicants to comply with state law.

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Sam I am no more


It's late April, there's a chill in the air, and amid the faceless sprawl of Auckland's North Shore, a carefully planned killing is being carried out.

The soon-to-be-deceased is 48-year-old motoring magazine publisher Sam Parker. He lives in Forrest Hill and drives a huge, black four-wheel drive that screams "don't mess with me", complete with the number plate "4DRNLN". This is for his company, Adrenalin Publishing. Think 4WD magazine, Diesel Industry News and other such testosterone-fuelled titles.
Sam will take a couple of weeks to pass on. There will be no grave, but if there was an epitaph, perhaps it would say, "here lies Sam Parker, a nice guy, but not who he wanted to be".

Sam is being killed off, so to speak, by his alter ego, Cathy. Cathy is the woman trapped inside Sam's body. Cathy - the name of the first girl Sam had a crush on at school - can't wait to come out. She's bursting. As far as she's concerned, Sam is already dead. But there's the necessary paperwork to be done first. Name changed by deed poll, a new passport, driver's licence, bank account - the banal detail of an extraordinary transformation.