A unanimous panel of the Court of Appeals of Michigan ruled on July 5 that Michelle Lake, a lesbian co-parent, lacked standing to seek “parenting time” with the biological child of her former same-sex partner, Kerri Putnam. Reversing a decision to award parenting time by the Washtenaw Circuit Court in Lake v. Putnam, 2016 Mich. App. LEXIS 1297, 2016 WL 3606081, the appeals court held that the co-parent was a mere “third party” who … <Read More>
Federal Court Agrees to Let VAWA Funding in North Carolina to Continue During Pendency of H.B. 2 Lawsuit
When the Justice Department filed suit against North Carolina for a declaration that H.B.2’s bathroom provision violates the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), it put into play a provision of that statute, 42 U.S.C. sec. 13925(b)(13)(c), which provides that upon the filing of a civil action “alleging a pattern or practice of discriminatory conduct on the basis of sex in any program or activity of a State government or unit of local government which receives … <Read More>
Federal Judge Orders Indiana to List Two Moms on Birth Certificates
U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt ruled on June 30 that Indiana was failing to comply with the Supreme Court’s mandate for marriage equality in Obergefell v. Hodges, decided last June 26, when the state refused to list the same-sex spouses of birth mothers on their children’s birth certificates. Ruling on cases brought by several same-sex couples who were married before their children were born, Judge Pratt found that the mandate to afford equal marriage … <Read More>
Federal Court Blocks Implementation Mississippi HB 1523
Just minutes before Mississippi’s anti-LGBT H.B. 1523 was scheduled to go into effect on July 1, U.S. District Judge Carlton W. Reeves filed a 60-page opinion explaining why he was granting a preliminary injunction to the plaintiffs in two cases challenging the measure, which he consolidated for this purpose under the name of Barber v. Bryant.
According to Judge Reeves, H.B. 1523 violates both the 1st Amendment’s Establishment of Religion Clause and the 14th Amendment’s … <Read More>
Federal Court Will Enjoin Part of Mississippi H.B. 1523 to Enforce Equal Protection Rights of Same-Sex Couples
U.S. District Judge Carlton W. Reeves announced on June 27 that he will order Mississippi officials not to enforce part of H.B. 1523, a recently-enacted state law scheduled to go into effect on July 1, because it would circumvent the Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling requiring states to afford equal marriage rights to same-sex couples. The challenged provision, Section 3(8)(a), allows Circuit Court Clerks to “recuse” themselves from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples … <Read More>
From Pride 2015 to Pride 2016: An Incredible Year for LGBT Legal Rights
On June 23, 2016, I spoke briefly at the NYC Bar Association’s LGBT Pride Reception, quickly recapping the legal victories since the last Gay Pride Reception on June 24, 2015. Here, in chronological order, are my top POSITIVE legal developments for LGBT people over the past year:
- On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court issued Obergefell v. Hodges, recognizing right of same-sex couples to marry under the 14th Amendment. Dicta in the
Federal Trial Courts Divided Over Title VII Sexual Orientation Discrimination Claims
Last July the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), reversing its position dating back fifty years, issued a ruling that a gay man could charge a federal agency employer with sex discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for denying a promotion because of his sexual orientation. The Baldwin v. Foxx decision is an administrative ruling, not binding on federal courts, and federal trial judges are sharply divided on the … <Read More>
The current status of transgender legal rights in the U.S.
I was invited by Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum to give a talk at Friday night services at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah on June 3 about the current status of transgender rights in the U.S. CBST observes Gay Pride Month with a series of guest speakers on Friday nights, and the first Friday of the month was designated as “Trans Pride Shabbat” this year. Below is a revised version of the text I prepared for that talk, … <Read More>
Retroactivity of Marriage Rights Continues to Occupy Courts
In two recent decisions courts have had to deal with the question whether marriage rights for same-sex couples, declared by the U.S. Supreme Court on June 26, 2015, should be projected backwards in time in particular cases involving the death of gay men and the rights of their surviving partners. In one, the surviving partner received the spousal benefit he sought, proceeds from a wrongful death lawsuit, although the court ended up not ruling directly … <Read More>
A Flood of New Litigation on LGBT Rights
May has brought a flood of litigation over LGBT rights in the federal courts. During the first few days of the month, half a dozen federal lawsuits were filed addressing either the transgender bathroom issue or continuing state-level resistance to marriage equality.
First out of the box was a lawsuit filed in federal court in Chicago on May 4 by two right-wing litigation groups – The Thomas More Society and the Alliance Defending Freedom – … <Read More>