West Virginia

For the first time in state history, gay and lesbian students will be protected from being bullied while at school after the West Virginia Board of Education unanimously adopted a new anti-bullying policy. Punishments for harassment can range from detention to suspension from school for 10 days; and the policy will go into effect July 1. Bradley Milam, executive director of Fairness West Virginia, called the board's approval a major victory for civil rights in the state.

A W.Va. group that promotes fair treatment of GLBT residents, has launched a new campaign with hopes of creating effective anti-bullying policies in the state. Fairness West Virginia has partnered with the ACLU of W.Va. for the campaign, named West Virginia Bully-Free. "It is a campaign that will show the public as well as policymakers that we need to have a much more effective policy here," Fairness WV Program Director Bradley Milam said.

According to West Virginia's Sam Hall [pictured], he attempted to play the manly man while at work in the coal mines, but other workers found out he's gay - and they began to harass him.

A lawsuit Hall filed against his former employer (a Massey Energy subsidiary) says he faced homophobia. Now, Hall is pushing for state legislation to protect West Virginians from discrimination based on their sexual orientation. Mr. Hall received taunts, threats of violence and vandalism to his car.

The West Virginia Supreme Court ruled Friday that a lesbian couple should have custody of an 18-month old foster child, overturning a judge's order that the girl should be placed with a heterosexual couple who might adopt her.

The court barred enforcing and earlier ruling by Judge Paul Blake Jr. - which said that the girl should be taken away from Kathryn Kutil and Cheryl Hess. The girl has remained in the couple's custody throughout the court proceedings.

The state Supreme Court will decide whether a baby girl will stay with the lesbian couple in Fayette County that wants to adopt her.

A judge in Fayette County has already called for the child, who is just more than a year old, to be removed from the home in favor of a more 'traditional' home with a mother and a father.

On Tuesday, the Family Policy Council of West Virginia filed a friend of the court brief asking the Supreme Court to side with the lower court ruling.

A West Virginia couple has taken its case to the state Supreme Court, arguing that their daughter should not be taken from their home because they are gay.

The Charleston Daily Mail reported that Cheryl Hess and Kathryn Kutil appealed a decision, made by Judge Paul Burke of the lower Fayette Circuit court.

The American Surrogacy Center [TASC] provides a very positive analysis of legal surrogacy in West Virginia. TASC says:

"West Virginia is a surrogacy-friendly state. Some states have a great deal of law on the subject of surrogacy - either from state statutes or appellate court cases. Other states have no law, which leaves the question up in the air. West Virginia has only one sentence in its law which is incredibly significant."