Douglas Gellenbeck and Michael Whitton were domestic partners for thirteen years. In 2008, they bought a co-op studio apartment together on East 11th Street, and the next year they registered their domestic partnership with New York City. Some time during their relationship Stevie, a dog, entered their life as well. Now Stevie is at the center of a heated custody dispute in Gellenbeck v. Whitton, Docket No. 154365/2014, NYLJ 1202741935478 (N.Y. Sup. Ct., N.Y. County, … <Read More>
The Bitter-Enders in the World of Marriage Equality
When the Supreme Court says it’s done, then it’s done, right? Well, not necessarily in Mississippi, where resistance to the impact and consequences of marriage equality lingers. In recent days, the Mississippi Supreme Court has weighed in — sort of — on gay divorce, and a trial judge in Hinds County heard arguments about the state’s continuing ban on “same-sex” adoption.
The divorce case, Czekala v. State, No. 2014-CA-00008-SCT (Nov. 5, 2015), involves a lesbian … <Read More>
Fantastic Young Singers for a NYC Musical Weekend
New York City is definitely the place to be if you want to hear lots of fantastic opera and art song singers in unusual settings. That was my experience this weekend, when I attended the Brooklyn Art Song Society’s program at the Old Stone House in Brooklyn, and Venture Opera’s presentation of Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the Angel Orensanz Foundation on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
Brooklyn Art Song Society is a project of … <Read More>
Jury Scrutiny of Chest Hair Patterns?
Will a Manhattan jury have to figure out whether a gay man can be identified by the pattern of his chest hair? Maybe, if the lawsuit brought by Doug Hill and James Moritz against plastic surgeon Douglas Steinbrech actually goes to trial in New York County Supreme Court. Supreme Court Justice Cynthia Kern granted summary judgment to Dr. Steinbrech on some of the gay couple’s claims on September 28 in Hill v. Steinbrech, 2015 N.Y. … <Read More>
New York Trial Court Holds New York Property Acquired During a Vermont Civil Union is Not Subject to Equitable Distribution in New York Dissolution Proceeding
In a rather complicated opinion, New York Supreme Court Justice Richard A. Dollinger ruled on October 23 that New York property acquired by Deborah O’Reilly-Morshead during her Vermont Civil Union with Christine O’Reilly-Morshead is not subject to equitable distribution under New York law in the current divorce proceeding between the women, who married in Canada after the property was acquired. O’Reilly-Morshead v. O’Reilly-Morshead, 2015 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 3843, 2015 NY Slip Op 25354 (Supreme … <Read More>
Federal Judge Agrees With EEOC that Sexual Orientation Discrimination is Actionable under Title VII
At last, a federal district judge has expressly relied on the EEOC’s ruling from July 2015 that sexual orientation discrimination claims can be brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
U.S. District Judge Myron H. Thompson of the Middle District of Alabama, rejecting the recommendation of a U.S. Magistrate Judge that a sexual orientation discrimination complaint under Title VII be dismissed on jurisdictional grounds, determined that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission … <Read More>
Woman Wins Second Ruling on Unauthorized Use of Photo in Anti-Discrimination Ad
New York Court of Claims Judge Thomas Scuccimarra has ruled that the New York State Division of Human Rights defamed Avril Nolan, a model whose photograph the Division purchased from Getty Images to use in advertisements intended to inform the public that discrimination against people living with HIV is unlawful in New York. Scuccimarra’s ruling in Nolan v. State of New York, No. 123283, reported on October 27 in the New York Law Journal, was … <Read More>
Civil Rights Through Administrative Action: Can It Be Effective?
When legislatures refuse to act on proposals to protect LGBT people from discrimination, can civil rights agencies and executive officials just go ahead and extend the protection on their own? Some recent events put this question sharply into play.
In July 2014, President Obama signed an executive order requiring federal contractors to adopt policies banning discrimination because of sexual orientation or gender identity and extending protection against gender identity discrimination to applicants and employees in … <Read More>
Same Old, Same Old from Florida Court of Appeal on Co-Parent Standing
Winning marriage equality nationwide (including in Florida) was cause for celebration this year, but it did not necessarily cure the legal problems of same-sex co-parents who had not previously been able to marry, as shown by an October 14 ruling by the Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal, which ordered the dismissal of a lawsuit by a woman seeking to restore contact with children she was raising with her former partner. Russell v. Pasik, 2015 … <Read More>
Implementing the Prison Rape Elimination Act: Progress in Maryland for Transgender Inmates
Stephen T. Moyer, the Secretary of the Maryland Division of Public Safety and Correction Services, has accepted most of the recommendations by Administrative Law Judge Denise Oakes Shaffer, requiring the Division to implement key elements of the Prison Rape Elimination Act, a federal statute whose regulations address important issues concerning appropriate treatment for transgender inmates. Moyer’s August 17 action, responding to Judge Shaffer’s April 1, 2015, decision on the grievance filed by inmate Neon Brown, … <Read More>