This week, the Supreme Court upheld, in US vs Skrmetti, that Tennessee’s ban on medical providers providing gender-affirming medical care for youth was constitutional. Approximately half of the US states have enacted such bans in the last few years. As Justice Sotomayor explains in her dissent, the Court went to great lengths and convoluted logic to reason that a statute which is specifically based on a person’s sex is not actually based on sex and therefore is not subject to … read more »
Protecting the rights of marriage – what you can do
Last week, I mentioned that a client wrote to me concerned about the future of same-sex marriage and the possibility that the Obergefell decision could be overturned. My client isn’t alone. Almost 80% of married same-sex couples reported the same concern in a recent study conducted by UCLA’s Williams Institute and reported in the Los Angeles Times. Marriage changed couples’ lives in all kinds of positive ways – they had increased feelings of safety and security, increased financial stability, legal … read more »
Is Marriage Equality a Given?
A few weeks ago, a client wrote and said that she was having trouble sleeping at night, worried about what would happen to her rights as a married person if the Obergefell decision was overturned. (And that was before the Supreme Court decisions were issued in the last few weeks!) I thought it would be a good idea for this week’s post, but it’s a long answer, so I’ll continue it next week. History Let’s start by going way back to 1996 … read more »
Pride in the Pride!
It’s Gay Pride Month! Happy Pride! But did you know that humans aren’t the only animals who are gay (at least at times)? According to Nature magazine, same-sex sexual activity has been observed in over 1,500 species. But wait, there’s more! There are also several transgender species! Some fish are born one sex and change to the other later in life. Frogs, too. Some are hermaphroditic, meaning that they are both sexes at the same time. Nature loves diversity! Here’s … read more »
The Piece I Wish I Didn’t Have to Write
This is a piece I wish I didn’t have to write … again. But I’m back on my soapbox: Lesbian moms need second-parent adoptions to protect the relationship between the child and the non-biological mom. Both parents need to have equal legal rights when it comes to their children. No ifs, and, or buts about it. Having both mothers’ names on the baby’s birth certificate is not proof enough. Being legally married to the biological mother protects the relationship … read more »
Happy Pride! But same-sex marriages may lead to same sex divorces
It’s Pride Month! Happy Pride! June 26 is also the 8th anniversary of the release of the decision on Obergefell v. Hodges, which finally corrected the horrendous Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and legalized same-sex marriages in every state of the US. Thank goodness! But same-sex marriages can lead to same-sex divorces. If you or a loved one are going through a same-sex divorce, there are a few things that need special attention: Making sure that both parents have an … read more »
‘Who’s Your Mama?’ Gets More Complicated…
This week I want to talk about 2 terrible recent decisions involving lesbian moms – and some information about how lesbian families can and should protect themselves. The first was a case in Oklahoma – Kris and Rebekah decided to have a baby together. They searched for a known donor and found Harlan, who lived in Texas. Rebekah (who was to be the birth mom) and Harlan signed a donor agreement and he provided the sperm. The 2 women got … read more »
New York’s Definition of Family Has Grown, Once Again
Some 18 months ago, I wrote about an important decision, Brooke S.B.1, by the New York Court of Appeals, which is the highest court in New York. (You can see that blog post here.) In Brooke, the Court determined that the non-biological mother in a same sex couple had standing to request custody or visitation of the child she helped to raise. The Brooke court found that it was in the child’s best interest to continue that relationship, and found … read more »
Finally, A Better Definition of Family
New York’s highest court, the New York State Court of Appeals, made a long overdue and unquestionably important decision last month—that a de facto parent who is not a biological or adoptive parent has standing to petition for custody and visitation. This comes up in the context of same-sex relationships where one parent is related to the child biologically, where the parents have raised the children together but are not married. The issue is whether, if they break up, the … read more »
How History is Written
I just read a beautiful tribute to the late Hon. Judith Kaye (1938-2016), who was the much respected and beloved Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals of the State of New York. The tribute was written by Roberta Kaplan, Esq., who represented Edith Windsor in US vs Windsor, the landmark Supreme Court case that, overnight, extended equal rights of gay and lesbian Americans in unprecedented ways. Ms. Kaplan recently remembered Judge Kaye at a dinner for Le-Gal, the LGBT … read more »