With the new year has come a raft of new laws -- a mixed bag for family advocates as laws guaranteeing special rights for homosexuals are in vogue, even while the defense of marriage movement remains strong.
California leads the way with some of the most liberal laws to hit the books in 2007. Barbara McPherson, legislative affairs coordinator of the California Family Council, told Family News in Focus her state has expanded its definition of gay-hiring rights.
"Faith-based organizations could be included in that mix," she said, "and that means that they could actually have complaints filed against them and fines and removal of state funding."
But not every new law in the Golden State is regrettable.
"There’s a wonderful bill," she noted, "which requires more sex-offender registration, which prohibits sex offenders from hiring minor children."
In other good news, Brad Miller, director of family policy councils for Focus on the Family Action, said many states are enacting marriage protections this year -- and that's not all.
"Another area of success is in the area of restricting sexually oriented businesses," he said. "We’re seeing great success in that area on the local level."
That said, several states are starting bond measures for embryonic stem-cell research funding.
"This is a trend, and it’s an unfortunate trend," Miller said. "Numerous other states are looking at and will probably force this issue in the next legislative session."
Some new laws, though, are just strange. For example, you can no longer tether your dog to a stationary object in California.
