[JURIST] Following significant criticism, Utah Juvenile Court judge Scott Johansen [official profile] on Friday amended [order] an earlier ruling to allow a same-sex couple to remain foster parents. Johansen had initially ruled against married women April Hoagland and Beckie Peirce on Tuesday, writing in his order, “[t]he Court orders the Division to place the child with a duly married, heterosexual foster-adoptive couple within one week,” citing a “belief that research has shown that children are more emotionally and mentally stable when raised by a mother and father in the same home.” On Friday, Johansen’s released order showed he crossed out the line requiring the child’s replacement, and altered his reasoning to read “concern” rather than “belief.” Hoadland and Peirce were married last year, and were cleared by the Utah Division of Child and Family Services earlier this year to be foster parents. Reacting to the initial order, Hoagland stated, “It’s not fair, and it’s not right, and it hurts me very badly, because I have done nothing wrong.” Johansen’s initial order received criticism from many sources, including Utah’s Governor Gary Herbert, who condemned judicial activism.

The lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender community (LGBT) continues to face legal challenges throughout the world. Earlier this month the Constitutional Court of Colombia ruled [JURIST report] that same-sex couples can legally adopt. In June the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported [JURIST report] that members of the LGBT community continue to face discrimination and human rights abuses. Abuses toward the LGBT population are human rights abuses impacting society as a whole, said 12 UN agencies in a joint statement released [JURIST report] in September. The commission found that while LGBT rights have increased since the UN’s first study, there remains widespread discrimination and violence towards these individuals. Last November the OHCHR criticized a Singapore Supreme Court decision [JURIST reports] upholding a law criminalizing consensual same-sex relations between adult men. Last September the UN released a video calling for an end to LGBT discrimination [JURIST report] in all countries.