The Nebraska Supreme Court [official website] on Friday upheld [opinion, PDF download] a lower court decision overruling the state of Nebraska’s long-time ban on same sex partner foster parenting. In doing so, the court compared the ban to signs reading “‘whites only’ on the hiring office door.” The 1995 ban was first challenged in this case in 2013, brought by three same-sex couples along with several interest groups. The trial court had ruled [opinion, PDF] in favor of the parents, and the state appealed. On the state supreme court ruling, ACLU of Nebraska [official website] Executive Director Danielle Conrad said, “this is a victory for children and LGBT Nebraskans. There are tens of thousands of LGBT people who call the Cornhusker State home and thousands of Nebraska children in need of a foster care placement.”

Same-sex marriage continues to be a hotly debated issue, both in the US and abroad. On the same day as the Nebraska decision, the City of Osaka, Japan became the first city in the country to recognize same-sex couples [JURIST report] as foster parents. Last December, a legislative committee in the Taiwan Parliament approved a bill that would amend the Taiwan Civil Code to allow same-sex marriage [JURIST report]. The Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee approved a change in the Code from “male and female parties” into “two parties,” which would allow homosexual couples to be legally wed. In September tens of thousands of people marched [JURIST report] in Mexico in protest of same-sex marriage, a controversial topic in the country further exacerbated by a proposal from embattled President Enrique Peña Nieto to recognize same-sex marriage.