On October 17, two different panels of the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled in cases where lesbian co-parents were battling over child custody. In one, a birth mother prevailed because the court refused to recognize the couple’s Canadian same-sex marriage. In the other, however, the court found that the state’s full-faith-and-credit obligation required recognition of an out-of-state second-parent adoption that could not have been done in-state, and affirmed a sole custody award to the second … <Read More>
same-sex marriage
The Marriage Equality Struggle: A Selective Chonology
Tomorrow I am leading a discussion at the NYLS Justice Action Center Colloquium on marriage equality and the law. I prepared the following selective chronology as a handout for the participants, and thought I would share it on-line.
MARRIAGE EQUALITY CHRONOLOGY
[Note: This chronology is selective]
Before 1993: All attempts to litigate for same-sex marriage ended in defeat, including summary affirmance by U.S. Supreme Court holding that the issue of same-sex marriage does … <Read More>
Federal Judge Schedules February 25 Trial on Constitutionality of Michigan Marriage Amendment
U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman heard arguments on October 16 from the state of Michigan and lawyers for a lesbian couple who want to jointly adopt each other’s children, before announcing that he was denying each side’s motion for summary judgment and scheduling a February 25 trial on the constitutionality of the Michigan Marriage Amendment. The Amendment’s constitutionality is an issue in the case because Michigan’s adoption statute only allows couples who are married to … <Read More>
New Jersey and Illinois Trial Courts Advance Pending Marriage Equality Cases in September 27 Rulings
In a big day for the campaign for marriage equality, trial judges moved the ball forward significantly in New Jersey and Illinois on September 27. Mercer County (NJ) Superior Court Judge Mary C. Jacobson granted a motion for summary judgment filed by Lambda Legal on behalf of Garden State Equality, a gay rights group, ruling that New Jersey must begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples beginning on October 21, 2013. Cook County (IL) Circuit … <Read More>
Marriage Equality Efforts Chugging Along Nicely
The lack of any big LGBT court decision over the past week or so, together with the beginning of the Jewish High Holy Days, explains why I haven’t posted anything on this blog since August. But things have definitely not been standing still in the ongoing marriage equality campaign.
The biggest deal has probably been the gradual rolling out of federal constitutional recognition for same-sex marriages in the wake of U.S. v. Windsor, the June … <Read More>
New Mexico Supreme Court Rules Against Wedding Photographer in Sexual Orientation Discrimination Case
The New Mexico Supreme Court unanimously ruled on August 22 that a wedding photography business violated the New Mexico Human Rights Act by refusing service to a lesbian couple for their same-sex commitment ceremony. The court held that the photography business owners’ religious and free speech rights were not unconstitutionally violated by this result. The case is Elane Photography v. Willock.
The case arose when Vanessa Willock contacted Elane Photography LLC by email to inquire
Court Awards Survivor’s Benefits to Same-Sex Spouse
U.S. District Judge C. Darnell Jones, II (E.D.Pa.), ruled July 29 that the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) should be construed, now that DOMA Section 3 has been declared unconstitutional, to recognize a same-sex marriage for purposes of an employee benefit plan when the married couple resided in a state that recognized the validity of the marriage. The ruling means that Jennifer J. Tobits will be entitled to a survivor’s benefit under the … <Read More>
Primary Stages’ Production of “Harbor” by Chad Beguelin
Warning: Plot Spoilers!
Primary Stages, an innovative off-Broadway Theater Company, is presenting “Harbor,” a two-act play by Chad Beguelin, directed by Mark Lamos, at 59E59 Theaters in Manhattan. I saw last night’s performance. A main draw to see this is the casting of Randy Harrison, a favorite from the “Queer As Folk” TV series, in the role of Kevin Adams-Weller, an aspiring writer recently married to his long-time boyfriend, architect Ted Adams-Weller, played by Paul … <Read More>
Michigan may be the next state to defend its ban on same-sex marriage in a federal court trial.
Senior U.S. District Judge Bernard A. Friedman, appointed to the court by President Ronald Reagan in 1988, ruled on July 1 that a Michigan lesbian couple is entitled to a trial of their claim that the state adoption law, forbidding same-sex couples to jointly adopt children, and the Michigan Marriage Amendment (MMA), forbidding same-sex marriages, violate their rights under the 14th Amendment. Rejecting the state’s motion to dismiss the case, Judge Friedman cited the Supreme … <Read More>
First Fruits of the DOMA/Prop 8 Decisions – Quick Response from the Obama Administration, Resumption of Marriages in California, and a Decision Striking a Michigan Law Against Partner Benefits
Response by the “defendants” in the DOMA and Prop 8 cases to the Supreme Court’s June 26 rulings was swift.
Within hours after the Court announced that Section 3 of DOMA was unconstitutional, the President had announced his “applause” for the decision and instruction to the Attorney General to coordinate with executive branch department heads to seek “smooth” implementation for federal recognition of lawfully-contracted same-sex marriages. Some of the quickest responses came rolling in right … <Read More>