(San Francisco, January 4, 2016)—Today, U.S. District Court Judge Phyllis Hamilton denied FedEx’s attempt to throw out a lawsuit filed by Stacey Schuett, a widow of a longtime FedEx employee who has been denied the survivor pension benefits her same-sex spouse earned during her long career with the company. FedEx refuses to provide the benefits because its pension plan incorporates the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), even though that law was struck down as unconstitutional by the...
Our Voices
(Birmingham, AL, November 16, 2015)—Today, a lesbian mother in Alabama asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review an Alabama Supreme Court decision refusing to recognize her as an adoptive parent of her three children and holding that Alabama does not have to recognize second-parent adoptions granted by Georgia courts. The mother also asked the Supreme Court for an emergency order permitting her to visit her children while her appeal is pending. As a result of an earlier Alabama order, she has not...
(Tallahassee, FL, October 16, 2015)—Today, the same-sex couples who filed a federal lawsuit challenging Florida’s refusal to add both of their names to their children’s birth certificates asked the court for immediate protection for their families. The request for a preliminary injunction filed by Debbie and Kari Chin of St. Petersburg and Yadira Arenas and Alma Vazquez of Winter Haven says: “Defendants’ discriminatory denial of equal birth certificates to Plaintiffs and their children …...
(Montgomery, AL, September 18, 2015)—Today, the Alabama Supreme Court refused to recognize an adoption by a lesbian mother of her three children granted by a Georgia court in 2007. Even though she had raised the children from birth and adopted them over eight years ago, the Court ruled that Alabama does not need to respect her adoption because it found that the Georgia court didn’t properly apply Georgia law when it granted her adoption. Although the Alabama Supreme Court recognized that full...
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent marriage equality ruling has brought the freedom to marry to the entire country, recognizing the equal dignity of our families. However, there is a lot more we need to do to achieve true family equality that fully respects the rights of LGBTQ parents and their children. Let me share the story of Marisol and her spouse, Elena (names have been changed to protect their family). They decided to have a child and asked one of Marisol’s friends to be their sperm donor....
(San Francisco, CA, August 11, 2015)—Today, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) launched its #Equality4Families campaign to raise awareness about the need to reform state laws so that they fully protect LGBTQ parents’ rights to care for their children. The campaign launch comes on the heels of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court freedom to marry victory, which brings tremendous progress to the LGBTQ movement, but does not fully protect all LGBTQ families, specially parents and their...
U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced on July 9, 2015 that full federal marriage benefits will be available to all same-sex spouses, following the Supreme Court’s landmark decision affirming the freedom of same-sex couples to marry nationwide. These benefits include eligibility for Supplemental Security Income, compensation for spouses or families of a military servicemember who died while in the line of duty, and spousal benefits for retirement and disability funds. Many of these...
(MOBILE, Ala., July 1, 2015)–U.S. District Judge Callie V.S. Granade today issued an order confirming that her injunction directing all Alabama probate judges to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples is now in effect and requires immediate compliance. A violation of Judge Granade’s order could result in a county probate judge being held liable for contempt of court, attorneys’ fees, financial penalties, and any other remedies the court deems proper. In today’s order, Judge Granade...
(MOBILE, Ala., July 1, 2015)–Four civil rights groups representing Alabama same-sex couples in a federal class-action lawsuit asked U.S. District Judge Callie V.S. Granade to confirm that her injunction directing all state probate judges to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples is in effect and requires immediate compliance. Although most of Alabama’s county probate judges are issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, a minority appear to be confused about their obligations under...
(San Francisco, CA, June 30, 2015)—Alabama’s probate judges are under an immediate obligation to issue marriage licenses to qualified same-sex couples, say the four civil-rights organizations that are representing same-sex couples in the state. Pursuant to a May 21 order by Judge Callie V.S Granade in Strawser v. Strange, probate judges became obligated to obey the U.S. Constitution and issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples on the date that “the Supreme Court issues its ruling” in...
