Gay Adoption Recognized in Louisana

A Louisiana federal judge has ruled that the state registrar must recognize the adoption of a child by a same-sex couple. A baby boy who was born in Louisiana in 2006, was adopted by a gay couple from New York, Oren Adar and Mickey Smith. The state of New York granted the couple an adoption decree, but Louisiana, where the child was born, would not recognize the adoption. Louisiana is one of the states that bans unmarried couples from adopting.

That changed on Tuesday however, when U.S. District Court Judge Jay Zainey ordered the state of Louisiana to recognize both same-sex parents on the boy’s birth certificate.

The case was backed by Lambda Legal, who called the decision a landmark victory for same-sex parents. But Adar, one of the two fathers in the suit, had a very person reason for why this case was so important.

As an adopted child myself, I understand the need to feel like you belong. I remember as a child wanting to see my own birth certificate and to see my parents listed because it gave me a sense of belonging, of identity and of dignity. I want our child to see Mickey’s name and my name as parents on his birth certificate.

Recession Hits Gay Advocacy Organizations

According to the Washington Blade:

Many gay advocacy organizations are scaling back services and cutting staff, as the nation’s recession takes a toll on nonprofits.

At Lambda Legal, 10 positions were cut last month. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation laid off several staff members Nov. 21. The National Gay & Lesbian Task Force has left open unfilled positions, and the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association recently reduced its national staff from seven to two.

GLAAD President Neil Giuliano said the cuts at his organization “touched all departments,” but did not reach “double digits.”

“We looked at the work we’re doing and the mission we have and we had to make a strategic plan to make reductions,” he said. “Fundraising has slowed dramatically and the non-profit sector is not immune to what’s going on, and sometimes we’re impacted more.”

Read the rest at the Washington Blade.

Proposition 8 Has Won - Gay Marriage Banned

Earlier today, there were still approximately three million votes to be counted, and some were saying the vote on Proposition 8 was too close to call.  Now however, with 100% of the ballots being counted, it looks as though Proposition 8 has passed.

The fight however is far from over. Lambda Legal and the ACLU petitioned the California Supreme Court on behalf of Equality California and six same-sex couples urging the court to invalidate Prop 8 if it passes. The legal petition charges that Prop 8 is invalid because the initiative process was improperly used in an attempt to undo the constitution’s core commitment to equality for everyone by eliminating a fundamental right from just one group, being gay and lesbian Californians. The petition also says Prop 8 improperly attempts to prevent the courts from exercising their essential constitutional role of protecting the equal protection rights of minorities. California’s attorney general has stated that existing California marriages will remain valid.

Is One Wedding Enough for Gay Couples?

According to WSJ.com.

Same-sex couples say they currently need multiple unions to cover the nation’s uneven legal patchwork. States such as Massachusetts and New York recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages but don’t recognize domestic partnerships. The reverse is true in Washington and Oregon, which recognize gay domestic partnerships but restrict marriage to a man and woman, says Jennifer Pizer, a senior counsel with Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, a gay civil-rights organization.

Read more by clicking here.

Iowa Supreme Court to Hear Gay Marriage Case

Iowa’s Supreme Court said today it will hear arguments in a case which will challenge the state’s law banning same-sex marriage.

The court has announced it will hear verbal arguments in the case on December 9th, and b oth sides will be allotted 30 minutes to present their case.

The hearing is sparked from a Polk County District Court Judge’s (Robert Hanson) August 31, 2007, ruling claiming the state’s law defining marriage as only between a man and woman was unconstitutional. The ruling stood long enough for one gay couple to get married before the judge stayed his decision later in the day. The judge’s initial ruling came after Lambda Legal, the national civil rights group filed a lawsuit in Polk County in 2006 challenging the state’s marriage laws on behalf of six same-sex couples who were denied marriage licenses in Iowa.

Next Page »