In the News

10/13/2009

"The Alliance Defense Fund of Scottsdale, Ariz., is challenging the governments' decision to give equal benefits to gay couples, saying same-sex marriage is illegal in New York.

"The group lost in lower courts, which have ruled that extending the benefits is legal and does not conflict with current laws.

10/14/2009

"A Christian legal group seeking to stop New York agencies from recognizing same-sex marriages performed outside the state argued in the state's highest court Tuesday that the practice amounts to a policy decision that requires approval by lawmakers.

10/07/2009

"In 2006, Oren Adar and Mickey Smith made an addition to their family. While living in New York, they adopted a child, a toddler who was born in Shreveport.

"...The two legally adopted the child, but when they tried to get a birth certificate with both of their names as listed as 'parents' on it in Louisiana, the state’s Registrar of Vital Statistics told them no.

10/2/2009

"A Texas judge cleared the way for two Dallas men to get a divorce, ruling Thursday that Texas' ban on same-sex marriage violates the constitutional guarantee to equal protection under the law.

"...Jennifer Pizer, marriage project director for the New York-based gay rights group Lambda Legal, said it is too early to predict the ultimate implications of the lawsuit, in which neither man is identified."

Read more on chron.com

9/30/2009

"A closely watched legal case that focused on whether hospital patients have a right to visitors has ended in disappointment for patient advocates and gay rights groups. A federal judge has dismissed a Florida lawsuit in which a same-sex partner and her children weren’t allowed to visit a dying woman’s bedside, saying a hospital trauma center has no legal obligation to allow visitors.

9/30/2009

"In the home state of Charlie Crist, where the law does little for the Sunshine State's LGBT residents, a horrific court rejection that only highlights the extent to which gay and lesbian couples are treated in the most inhumane way — one that heterosexual couples will never experience — during their most vulnerable moments. The case is Langbehn v. Jackson Memorial Hospital (Lambda Legal).

9/29/2009

"A federal court in Miami has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Washington state lesbian who was not allowed to visit her dying partner at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

"'The hospital took the position that we thought was pretty extreme — that it has no duty, no legal obligation, to allow visitors [of any sort] in the hospital. The court agreed,' said Beth Littrell, a staff attorney for Lambda Legal, a national gay-rights group representing Janice Langbehn, whose partner of 17 years died at Jackson in 2007.

9/29/2009

"A California woman has settled a lawsuit against her former doctors who denied her artificial insemination based on her sexual orientation, attorneys for both sides said Tuesday.

"Guadalupe Benitez, 36, of Oceanside, and her spouse sued doctors at North Coast Women's Medical Group in Vista for discrimination in 2001. California's highest court last year barred the Christian doctors from invoking religious beliefs, ruling state law prohibiting sexual orientation discrimination extends to the medical profession.

9/29/2009

"A long-running lawsuit between an Oceanside lesbian couple and two doctors that pitted the civil rights of same-sex couples against religious freedom for physicians has been settled.

"The terms of the settlement were not disclosed. It ends a lawsuit filed in 2001 by Guadalupe Benitez against Drs. Douglas Fenton and Christine Brody at North Coast Womens Care in Vista.

9/6/2009

"From a legal point of view, people with HIV — regardless of the stage of infection — are considered disabled and protected against discrimination under the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act. 'The courts don't understand the medicine and get things wrong,' said Bebe J. Anderson, HIV Project director for Lambda Legal. She adds that discrimination against people with HIV isn't based on the status of their infection. 'The effects of HIV on people can be different,' she explained, 'but the social effects are the same because it's based on HIV.'"