To all my friends and colleagues in Taiwan, Happy Pride 2019! I will be there soon to celebrate with you and to participate, along with the organization Taiwan LGBT Family…
“This appeal comes to us unopposed,” reads the first sentence of the Utah State Supreme Court’s August 1 decision striking down a statute that denied same-sex married couples equal rights…
The conflict and division surrounding immigration in the United States have spread beyond border crossings and asylum claims. Based on a narrow interpretation of existing law, U.S. authorities have not…
Amid so many gravely concerning headlines about immigration recently, at least one immigration story had a happy ending last week: A federal judge overturned the government’s earlier decision to deny…
Following the historic 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, activists and social scientists speculated that more LGBT people would opt to become…
Huffington Post recently published an article by guest writer Lora Liegel about her experience as a legally married lesbian mom compelled to undergo “second-parent” adoption of her son, Finn, in…
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2015 decision legalizing same-sex marriage in all 50 states, many LGBT parents and intended parents felt a weight lift from their shoulders: Now, surely,…
As an attorney with a busy practice, a husband and a father of two boys, my days usually fly by juggling responsibilities and deadlines, and there isn’t much time for…
I have the great honor of traveling next week to China and Japan to talk to members of the LGBT communities there about assisted reproductive technology and the legal considerations…
The wheels of progress turn slowly, and in some parts of the world, leaders stand on the brakes, bring it to a screeching halt, then do their best to roll…
As my fellow family lawyers and ART attorneys and I work to wrap our heads around last week’s presidential election results, many of our clients are turning to us for…
Proponents of marriage equality have a lot to celebrate as we near the beginning of a new year. Since January 1, 2014, courts in 20 states have overturned bans on…
U.S. district court broke down another barrier to same-sex marriage in a crucial ruling for same-sex parents in Ohio who have out-of-state adoption degrees.
The U.S. Supreme Court's June 2013 decision in United States v. Windsor set the stage for the issue’s repeat appearance in front of the high court.
Six couples and Equality Florida Institute filed suit asking a Florida state court to overturn Florida’s ban on same-sex marriage on the grounds that it violates their rights under the U.S. Constitution.
Another domino fell last week as another federal judge struck down a same-sex marriage ban in another conservative state—the second such occurrence in less than 30 days.
Utah same-sex couples and their families continue on a roller-coaster ride of ups and downs following a Dec. 20 ruling by U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby overturning Utah’s ban on same-sex marriages.
Many gay and lesbian couples in Utah have put their plans to marry on hold for now, as the U.S. Supreme Court Jan. 6 put a hold on U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby’s Dec. 20 ruling striking down Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage.
Defenders of Utah’s gay marriage ban seem likely to force the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in again on same-sex marriage, sooner rather than later.
The people of Utah are divided between celebration and outrage in response to a federal court ruling Friday, Dec. 20, knocking down Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage on constitutional grounds.
The New Mexico Supreme Court ruled December 19 that prohibiting same-sex couples from marrying is a violation of the anti-discrimination clause in the state’s Constitution, making New Mexico the 17th U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage.
The Hawaiian state Senate on Nov. 12 passed SB1 on a 19-4 vote during a special session called by Gov. Neil Abercrombie, who signed the bill into law yesterday. The Hawaiian House approved the measure 30-19 on Nov. 8 after adding several amendments aimed at quelling religious objections.
Illinois has become the 15th state to legalize same-sex marriage. Although Governor Pat Quinn has yet to sign the bill into law, he urged state legislators to pass it and has promised to sign.
Scores of gay and lesbian couples lined up at county courthouses throughout the state to apply for marriage licenses or to be married.
The New Jersey Supreme Court today stood up for equality, upholding a lower court ruling legalizing same sex marriage and the Illinois State Senate has passed the “Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act.”
The U.S. Supreme Court released decisions on DOMA and Prop 8 that will have a profound impact for many of our clients and on the lives of LGBT people
The Gartner family of Iowa received wonderful news on May 3rd when they were notified that the Iowa Supreme Court agreed with them that the Department of Health must include the nonbiological mother of the couple’s daughter on the birth certificate.
Same-sex marriage legislation passed in two more U.S. states recently
Uruguay became the second Latin American nation, following Argentina, to legalize same-sex marriage
France became the second nation in one month to take the first steps toward marriage equality. The “Marriage for All” bill spearheaded by President François Hollande’s Socialist party also grants the same right to all married couples to adopt children.
Tommy Woelfel and Rich Vaughn along with their twin boys are featured currently in a London Times Magazine article, Inside gay Hollywood’s baby boom, by Rhys Blakeley.
The U.S. Supreme Court announced today it will consider the case of California’s Proposition 8, passed in 2008, which stripped California same-sex couples of the right to marry. A U.S. District Appeals Court earlier had struck down Prop 8 on the basis it was unconstitutional. Some LGBT advocates are disappointed with today’s announcement because, had the Supreme Court refused to hear the case, same-sex marriage would have resumed in California almost immediately. The Supreme Court will consider California's Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage, ruled unconstitutional by a U.S. appeals court, and the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
Tommy and I were so honored, with our two boys, to be featured in a new one-act play by Del Shores, The Assembly Line, a benefit for Family Equality Council. I thought about the play's wedding scene as I stayed up late watching the 2012 election results.
The show features a non-traditional “family” that includes a gay male couple, the surrogate with whom they are having a baby, the surrogate’s young daughter, the surrogate’s disapproving and deeply prejudiced mother, and the daughter’s biological father.
As demonstrated by the state legislature’s commendable move to protect all parties in surrogacy arrangements by passing AB 1217, California non-traditional families are lucky. In contrast, in Salt Lake City, Utah, The New Normal, a new TV sitcom about a gay male couple who are becoming dads via surrogacy, is not even being allowed to air.
The Windsor case highlights one of the most onerous consequences of DOMA, which is the financial penalty same-sex couples incur via estate taxes and loss of Social Security benefits when one partner dies.
For the first time in history, Argentina recognized a gay couple as legal parents of a child born from surrogacy. On June 29, 2012, baby Tobias was born in New…
The number of gay couples forming families is on a steady rise from previous years. Gay and lesbian couples around the world are finding new hope creating families using ART methods.
The California Supreme Court held in May 2009 that the estimated 18,000 couples who married in California between that court’s marriage equality decision in May 2008 and Prop 8’s passage on November 4, 2008 remain validly married under California law.
The Obama administration filed court papers Monday claiming a federal marriage law discriminates against gays, even as government lawyers continue to defend the law.
