Proud Parenting

LGBTQ Parents - Lesbian Moms & Gay Dads

International LGBT family organizations announce ‘International Family Equality Day” for 2012

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The “International Family Equality Day” will take place on May 6, 2012, to celebrate LGBT families across the world. The dramatic increase in the numbers of LGBT people who choose to raise children is a global phenomenon. The movement for equal treatment of our families took another significant step forward with the first ever International Symposium of LGBT Family Organizations which took place in Florida in July, 2011. The symposium was part of an effort to increase international cooperation among GLBT family organizations worldwide, led by Family Equality Council, America’s foremost advocate for LGBT families, the Network of European LGBT Families Associations (NELFA) and the Canadian LGBT Parenting Network based in Toronto.

Article adapted by Proud Parenting from original press release.

Census shows rise in gay adoptions

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Growing numbers of gay couples across the country are adopting, according to census data. The percentage of same-sex parents with adopted children has risen sharply. About 19 percent of couples raising children reported having an adopted child in the house in 2009, up from just 8 percent in 2000, according to the Williams Institute. Advocates for gay families can point to legal victories in Florida last year and in Arkansas this passed spring. There are two distinct trends helping the rise of adoptions: the need for homes for children currently waiting (115,000 in the United States) and the increased acceptance of gays and lesbians in American society. Most of the legal obstacles facing gay couples intending to adopt stem from prohibitions on marriage, according to the Family Equality Council.

The Obama administration has noted the bigger role that gays and lesbians can play in adoptions. The commissioner for the Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Bryan Samuels, sent a memo to that effect to national child welfare agencies in April.

“The child welfare system has come to understand that placing a child in a gay or lesbian family is no greater risk than placing them in a heterosexual family,” Mr. Samuels said in an interview.

[via NYTimes.com]

Family Equality Council: Respect for Marriage Act Shows Respect for Children and Families

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Family Equality Council, America’s foremost advocate for LGBT family equality, offers its full support for the Respect for Marriage Act just introduced in the U.S. Senate. “For LGBT families raising children, marriage is more than just benefits and protections,” said Family Equality Council Executive Director Jennifer Chrisler. “Marriage is also an institution that carries with it a universal definition of family. It communicates society’s acceptance of a loving relationship and the children who are part of that family.”

The Respect for Marriage Act was introduced by Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Sen. Christopher Coons (D-DE) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO), Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) and Rep. John Conyers (D-MI).

RFMA repeals the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and restores the rights of all currently lawfully married couples, including same-sex couples, allowing them to receive the benefits of marriage under federal law. The bill also provides same-sex couples with guarantees that federal benefits and protections bestowed on a marriage in one state would continue even if a couple moves or travels to another state.

Family Week 2011 is open for registration

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Family Equality Council announced that registration for the 16th Annual Family Week – in Provincetown, MA – is open. The Week is July 30th through Saturday, August 6th. Family Week is the largest national gathering of the LGBT family community in the United States. The early-bird deadline is May 13, 2011. Online registration ends July 22, 2011. On-site registration will be available July 30 – 31, 2011. This year’s event schedule hasn’t been posted yet, but you can see the 2010 Event Schedule online.

Image: Family Equality Council

Reported number of same-sex couples skyrockets in Massachusetts

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Since 2000, when Massachusetts become the first state to legalize marriage equality, the number of reported same-sex couples in the state climbed sharply, suggesting that there is a growing public acceptance and that more gay couples are willing to declare their relationships openly.

“That level of social affirmation of our relationships is crucial,’’ said Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of the Family Equality Council. “It’s just a monumental shift.’’

Still, many gay-rights advocates believe that the surveys continue to underestimate the number of same-sex couples, because people are nervous or hesitating to answer honestly.

“You would think in 2010 that wouldn’t be the case,’’ she said. “But it is, even in Massachusetts.’’

[boston.com]

‘Mother’ and ‘Father’ designations changing on U.S. passport applications

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Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has ordered the State Department to change wording on passports; “mother” and “father” will be removed from U.S. passport applications and replaced with “mother or parent 1” and “father or parent 2”, the Department says. An explanation on the State Department website noted: “These improvements are being made to provide a gender neutral description of a child’s parents and in recognition of different types of families.” The State Department said the gender-neutral passport applications will be rolled out in February.

Gay rights groups are applauding the decision.

“Changing the term mother and father to the more global term of parent allows many different types of families to be able to go and apply for a passport for their child without feeling like the government doesn’t recognize their family,” said Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of Family Equality Council.

FEC lobbied the government for several years to remove the words from passport applications.

“Our government needs to recognize that the family structure is changing,” Chrisler said. “The best thing that we can do is support people who are raising kids in loving, stable families.”

Leader of Family Equality Council invites Republican gubernatorial candidate to family dinner

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Georgia Republican gubernatorial primary candidate Karen Handel recently said gay parenting is not “in the best interest of the child.” Handel admitted in an interview she does not know any gay parents, so she’s been invited to share a family dinner with executive director of Family Equality Council – Jennifer Chrisler (pictured with her family).

Chrisler points out in an editorial for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that’s it’s common to fear that which you do not know. Karen Handel also stated she would outlaw gay adoptions.

Chrisler says: “We invite her to dinner to meet us and our children, to get a glimpse into life as a gay family. If she cares enough about children waiting for homes she will say yes. She will say yes to experiencing a typical family meal, yes to witnessing love and yes to probably some spilled spaghetti on the floor.”

Family Week 2010 in Provincetown

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Family Week is the largest national gathering of GLBT families and their friends in the US, and registration has started! Join hundreds of GLBT families in P-town for the 15th annual celebration of lesbian and gay families July 31 – August 7 in Provincetown, MA. It’s a powerful and fun family vacation!

You can register for the event and find more information, including event scheduling, sponsorship and advertising opportunities at Family Equality Council’s website.

Family Equality Council responds to Obama’s Mother’s Day message

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Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of Family Equality Council, uses FEC’s Blog to respond to President Obama’s Mother’s Day Presidential Proclamation.

The President said, “Whether adoptive, biological, or foster, mothers share an unbreakable bond with their children, and Americans of all ages and backgrounds owe them an immeasurable debt. Nurturing families come in many forms, and children may be raised by two parents, a single mother, two mothers, a step-mom, a grandmother, or a guardian.”

Chrisler responds: “We welcome the President’s words today, but they represent the bow on the gift of equality we don’t yet have. The one million LGBT families raising two million kids are really looking for action. One of our priorities is to open the door for qualified LGBT people to parent the 120,000 kids up for adoption in the foster care system. There are at least four times as many LGBT people wanting to adopt as there are kids waiting to be adopted, according to the Williams Institute. The question is: Do we give these kids parents, or not? Thirty years of research and all major child welfare organizations agree: gay parents are good parents.”

New York votes against marriage equality

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Despite Governor Paterson’s support – the New York State Senate denied marriage equality with a vote of 24 to 38.

From Family Equality Council Blog:

Statement of Jennifer Chrisler, Executive Director, Family Equality Council:

“There are over 45,000 thousand lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) families in New York, over a quarter of which are raising thousands of children. The children in LGBT families need and deserve the legal protection and recognition that full marriage equality provides. Every day that LGBT families in New York struggle to support, protect, and provide for one another due to the lack of legal family recognition is a day too many, and Family Equality Council will push on alongside our New York families until the days of partial rights and inequality are a relic of the past.

“While this is a disappointing result, Family Equality Council will continue to fight for full equality until it is achieved in New York and across the U.S. This includes not taking our eyes off New Jersey, where Governor Corzine has promised to sign a marriage equality bill if it reaches his desk before the end of his term.”

Family Equality Council is the leading LGBT family advocacy organization and is a proud partner of Empire State Pride Agenda and Marriage Equality New York.

11/19/2009
New York High Court Unanimously Rejects Challenge to Marriage Equality

New York State’s highest court rejected unanimously a challenge by opponents of same-sex marriage to policies that recognize such unions performed in other states.

In their majority ruling, four of the seven members of the court said they were making their decision on narrow grounds involving the specifics of each case, and not settling the broader question of whether same-sex marriages performed in other states should be recognized. Judge Eugene F. Pigott Jr., writing for the majority, expressed “hope that the Legislature will address this controversy.”

But in a concurring decision, three of the justices, said that the court should have addressed the wider issue because New York law already allows for the recognition of marriages that are considered legal elsewhere.

The ruling leaves open the possibility there could be future challenges on the issue in New York.

10/13/2009
New York Top Court to Consider Gay Marriage Benefits

The AP says:

New York’s top court is set to hear arguments against providing government benefits to same sex couples married in Canada or other jurisdictions where such marriages are legal.

The state Department of Civil Service extended health insurance benefits to those spouses of state and local government workers in 2007. A year earlier, Westchester County agencies granted similar recognition and benefits.

The Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments Tuesday by the Alliance Defense Fund of Scottsdale, Ariz., contending those benefits are unlawful in New York, which does not permit same-sex marriages.

Lower courts upheld the benefits, saying New York generally recognizes marriages from elsewhere unless specifically prohibited or found abhorrent to public policy.

1/24/2009
New York Court to Approve State Recognition of Out-of-State Marriages for Same-Sex Couples

The New York Supreme Court Appellate Division, Third Department has upheld a lower court’s ruling that the New York State Department of Civil Service (DCS), a state agency, acted in compliance with the law when it confirmed that it would recognize out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples. This was the first Appellate Court ruling in New York to address the Paterson administration’s recognition of these marriages.

According to Lambda Legal, “Once an out-of-state same-sex marriage is recognized in New York,…each of its parties would be ‘a party to a marriage,’ and, thus, a ‘legal spouse’ who would be entitled to the benefits, rights and obligations of that status,” the three-judge majority opinion held. The other two panel judges filed a concurring opinion.

“Today the Appellate Court confirmed that New York’s state government follows the law by respecting out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples,” said Susan Sommer, Senior Counsel at Lambda Legal. “The Court has upheld important spousal health coverage for government employees in the process.”

In May 2007, DCS issued a memo recognizing, as spouses, same-sex couples married in other states or jurisdictions for purposes of extending spousal health insurance coverage to public employees in participating government insurance plans. The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), on behalf of four New York taxpayer plaintiffs, challenged DCS’s authority to respect valid out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples and to treat those couples fairly in administering state benefits. In March of 2008, the Supreme Court, Albany County, issued a decision that the DCS was following the law in applying New York’s marriage recognition rule to these marriages. ADF opposed the decision in an appeal filed in 2008.

Lambda Legal argued before the court in October 2008 on behalf of Defendant-Intervenors-Respondents Peri Rainbow and Tamela Sloan, long-time public employees who are raising a special needs child adopted from foster care. The couple depends on the government protections that come from respect for their marriage, and today’s decision validated the lower court ruling that marriages such as theirs are lawfully respected in New York state.

The Court’s decision is consistent with other marriage recognition victories in New York courts, as well as Governor Paterson’s May 2008 directive instructing all state agencies to respect out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples. In September 2008, the New York Supreme Court (Bronx trial court) dismissed a lawsuit against Governor Paterson challenging this directive and again granted Lambda Legal’s motion to intervene in the case on behalf of Rainbow and Sloan.

In February 2008, in Martinez v. County of Monroe, the Appellate Division, Fourth Department in Rochester, also upheld application of the marriage recognition rule to valid out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples. The decision, issued in response to a challenge brought by the NYCLU on behalf of a lesbian couple, is consistent with longstanding marriage recognition in New York.

In early 2009, Lambda Legal applauded a similar decision from the New York Appellate Division, Second Department affirming dismissal of a case brought by the ADF. The court confirmed that Westchester County Executive Spano lawfully recognized out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples, ruling as well in favor of Westchester County couple Michael Sabatino and Robert Voorheis, who had married in Canada and were permitted to intervene as defendants in the case with Lambda Legal as counsel.

The case is Lewis v. New York State Department of Civil Service, et al.