By Dana Rudolph on November 10, 2011
A state district court in Iowa heard arguments November 7 in a case to determine whether the child born to a lesbian couple married in that state has the right to have the names of both her parents on her birth certificate.
Posted in Cases, Lawsuits, State Courts
By Dana Rudolph on June 30, 2011
Five days after the New York State legislature legalized marriage for same-sex couples, LGBT civil rights supporters in New Jersey are asking the state courts to rule that the state constitution there guarantees same-sex couples marriage equality.
Posted in Issues, Law, Lawsuits, Marriage/Relationships, News, State Courts
By Dana Rudolph on April 7, 2011
The Arkansas Supreme Court unanimously upheld a lower court ruling that struck down the state’s ban on adoption and foster parenting by any person cohabiting with a sexual partner outside of marriage. The state high court said the law violates “fundamental privacy rights implicit in the Arkansas Constitution.”
Posted in Adoption, Issues, Law, Lawsuits, State Courts
By Dana Rudolph on March 23, 2011
The Arkansas Supreme Court heard arguments March 17 in a case to determine whether the state constitution will allow a law banning any person cohabiting with a sexual partner outside of marriage from adopting or foster a child. It is a case some legal observers expect could end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Posted in Adoption, Issues, Law, Lawsuits, News, State Courts, State Supreme Courts
By Dana Rudolph on December 28, 2010
The North Carolina Supreme Court on December 20 voided the adoption by a lesbian mother of the child who she and her former partner, the biological mother, were raising together. The ruling jeopardizes the legality of all other such “second-parent adoptions” in the state.
Posted in Adoption, Issues, Law, Lawsuits, News, State Courts, State Supreme Courts
By Dana Rudolph on October 23, 2010
Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum announced Friday that he will not challenge a September 22 state appellate court ruling that overturned Florida’s ban on adoption by gay men or lesbians. This means the 33-year-old ban has ended.
Posted in Adoption, Issues, Law, Lawsuits, State Courts
By Dana Rudolph on October 13, 2010
Neither the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) nor Governor Charlie Crist will appeal a September 22 ruling that overturned the state ban on adoption by gay men or lesbians. But will state Attorney General Bill McCollum appeal on his own?
Posted in Law, Lawsuits, News, State Courts
By Dana Rudolph on September 23, 2010
Florida Governor Charlie Crist (I) and George Sheldon, head of the state’s Department of Children and Families (DCF), said they would no longer enforce the state ban on adoption by gay men and lesbians.
Posted in Adoption, Law, Lawsuits, News, State Courts
By Dana Rudolph on September 22, 2010
A Florida appeals court ruled September 22 that a gay man, Frank Martin Gill, has the right to adopt the two boys he and his partner have raised for almost six years. The decision upholds a lower court ruling that found the state law banning gay men and lesbians from adopting is unconstitutional.
Posted in Adoption, Issues, Law, Lawsuits, News, State Courts
By Lisa Keen on September 8, 2010
The California Supreme Court Wednesday night denied a petition from a conservative group seeking to force California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to participate in an appeal of the Proposition 8 case.
Posted in Lawsuits, News, State Courts, State Supreme Courts
By Dana Rudolph on July 29, 2010
The case of two gay foster parents in Florida has created a dilemma for the courts: either they honor state law banning adoption by gay men and lesbians or honor their duty to rule in the best interests of the children.
And beyond Florida, some LGBT experts and advocates think that adoption could be the next major target—after marriage equality—for opponents of LGBT civil rights.
Posted in A closer look, Adoption, Issues, Law, Lawsuits, News, State Courts
By Lisa Keen on February 24, 2010
The battle over equal rights to marriage has dominated much of the news concerning the LGBT civil rights movement for the past 17 years, but there have been gains recently in the battle over gay family rights in general. And in just the past week, there were important developments in two significant courts.
Posted in A closer look, Cases, Federal Courts, Issues, Law, Lawsuits, News, State Courts, U.S. Supreme Court
By Lisa Keen on January 17, 2010
It turns out that it shouldn’t have been a big surprise last year when conservative icon Ted Olson announced he would help lead the charge against Proposition 8, the initiative which bans legal recognition for same-sex relationships in California. Olson’s law firm is no novice at defending the rights of gays to get married.
Posted in A closer look, Federal Courts, Issues, Law, Lawsuits, Lawsuits, Marriage/Relationships, News, State Courts
By Dana Rudolph on January 6, 2010
In a long-running interstate dispute, an “ex-lesbian” in Virginia failed to show up last Friday to transfer custody of her seven-year-old daughter to the woman’s former civil union partner.
Posted in Cases, Law, Lawsuits, News, State Courts
Minnesota: Where the push for a marriage license began
Immigration bill advances without provisions for same-sex couples
Leahy submits language to help bi-national same-sex couples
Delaware votes for marriage equality; becomes 11th state to make it the law
Rhode Island marriage law signed; Two more states could vote next week
President praises pro athlete Jason Collins for courage to come out