Video | Amazon.com recognizes husbands with new ad, 'Kindle Paperwhite: Perfect at the Beach'

New ad posted by Amazon.com to YouTube:

The new Kindle Paperwhite is perfect for reading in bright sunlight, without glare... and with its built-in light, you can read anytime, day or night. Learn more: http://amzn.to/XxSaMg

Puerto Rico denies gays right to adopt children

BY DANICA COTO, ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Puerto Rico's Supreme Court narrowly voted Wednesday to uphold a law banning gay couples from adopting children.

The 5-4 vote came in the case of an unidentified woman who has sought for the last eight years to adopt a 12-year-old girl who her partner of more than 20 years had through in vitro fertilization. It was the first time that the court heard a case on same-sex adoptions.

A majority of judges upheld the constitutionality of a law that states a person cannot adopt a single-parent child if the would-be adopter is of the same sex as the child's mother or father without that parent losing their legal rights.

The judges also said a family composed of a mother and father is best for a child's dignity, stability and well-being.

"The state ... has not criminalized their sentimental relationship, but it does not have a constitutional obligation to award this relationship the same rights that other relationships have when it comes to adoption procedures," the majority's opinion said.

The majority also found that so-called second-parent adoptions, in which couples jointly adopt children, do not apply in Puerto Rico. That issue affects the case in question in part, the majority said, because the girl would have to be registered with two mothers and the U.S. territory's laws do not address such a situation.

The judges said it is up to legislators to change adoption laws if they see fit.

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Video | Respect for Marriage Coalition unveils ad

From OutServe-SLDN:

OutServe-SLDN is a proud partner in the Respect for Marriage Coalition, which today unveiled a new ad as part of a million dollar campaign to reach the American people with a single message: It's time for marriage.

Southern Baptists urge continued ban on gay Scouts

BY TRAVIS LOLLER, ASSOCIATED PRESS

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The nation's largest Protestant group is calling on members of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America to uphold a ban on gay leaders and Scouts when it votes in May.

The Southern Baptist Convention's executive committee passed the resolution Tuesday. It also calls on like-minded corporate leaders to support the Scouts financially. And it expresses "dismay and disappointment" at any Scout leaders who may have lobbied to remove the ban.

The Scouts announced last month that they would consider a proposal to let the sponsors of each individual troop decide whether to ban gays. The policy was supposed to be settled on Feb. 6 by the Scouts' 70-member national executive board. Under intense pressure from both sides, the board punted the decision to the 1,400-member National Council.

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Rising N.Y. art critic, curator Alex Gartenfeld to join MOCA in North Miami

• 01 Magazine profile: In His Closet

BY ANDRES VIGLUCCI, AVIGLUCCI@MIAMIHERALD.COM

The Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami has snared a trailblazing young New York critic and curator with a keen eye for fresh talent to fill a new curatorial job, cementing its growing prominence as a nurturer of significant artistic careers.

Alex Gartenfeld, 26, who rapidly established himself as a go-to exponent of cutting-edge art after graduating from Columbia University, will work under MOCA director and chief curator Bonnie Clearwater to organize exhibitions, prepare publications and oversee the museum’s public programs, which include lectures and art education for youths and adults.

The Tuesday announcement of his hiring was also hailed as confirmation of the maturation of Miami’s burgeoning art scene.

“When a rising young curator chooses Miami for his next major position, it says everything about the quality of the contemporary art world in our community, and everything about MOCA,’’said Miami art collector Dennis Scholl, vice president/arts at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which has supported the museum financially. “He is certainly right in the middle of the zeitgeist when it comes to contemporary art.’’

Gartenfeld, who will officially assume the job on May 10, has been referred to as a “wunderkind’’ by The New York Times and was included on Forbes magazine’s “30 Under 30” list of people to watch in the arts. He is senior editor for online at Interview and Art in America magazines, whose web presence he helped launch. He also co-founded an alternative exhibition space in his Manhattan apartment called West Street Gallery that showed work by up-and-coming artists and became a must-see art world destination.

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Gay inaugural poet Richard Blanco to be celebrated Friday with free reading at Adrienne Arsht Center

From the Adrienne Arsht Center:

Can a poet pack the house?

We’ll find out Friday, when the Adrienne Arsht Center throws a Miami homecoming in the Knight Concert Hall for Richard Blanco, the Cuban-American poet who was tapped last month as President Obama’s 2013 Inauguration Poet. Raised in Miami, Blanco is the youngest and the first openly gay and Hispanic poet to receive this distinction.

This Friday’s 7:30 p.m. event is FREE and open to the public. Passes must be claimed on the Arsht Center website, www.arshtcenter.org, or by calling 305-949-6722 in advance.

The evening will feature a bilingual reading of selected works, an on-stage interview and an open Q&A session that gives you the chance to ask a real live famous poet your most burning question. P. Scott Cunningham, founder of O, Miami Poetry Festival and University of Wynwood, will introduce Blanco. Books & Books will host a book signing in the lobby after the event.