Web Feature

The antigay Adoption.com and ParentProfiles.com stopped doing business in New York, according to a March 4 announcement issued by NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

In July, 2008, Lambda Legal filed a discrimination complaint with the attorney general's office on behalf of Rosario Gennaro and Alexander Gardner, a New York gay couple barred from posting their online adoptive-parent profile by the companies solely because they are a same-sex couple. Adoption Profiles was also sued in California in 2004 by NCLR for violating that state's antidiscrimination law and, as a result, is no longer doing business there.

Gennaro and Gardner knew that adoption was the only way to make possible their longtime dream of having children, and sought to post their profile on ParentProfiles.com, a service of Adoption Profiles, LLC and Adoption Media, LLC. Despite having obtained certification as Qualified Adoptive Parents from the New York City Surrogate Court, the couple was unable to post their profile on the website. The eligibility requirements of the website allowed only "Qualifying Husband and Wife" couples that are "one male husband and one female wife" to use the service.

This latest announcement confirms that the companies in question violated New York laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and marital status. "We are thrilled that…no couple will have to experience what we did in our effort to become parents," says Gennaro.

The Michigan State Court of Appeals has held that a family court cannot refuse to hear a child custody case simply because it involves children whose parents are lesbians, recognizing that there is no gay exception to Michigan's child custody laws.

Diane Giancaspro and Lisa Ann Congleton adopted three children together in Illinois before moving as a family to Michigan. In August 2007 when the couple ended their relationship, Giancaspro filed papers asking a Michigan trial court to determine custody of the children. Congleton moved to dismiss the case, saying that the adoption was invalid under the Michigan Child Custody Act and citing the state's antigay constitutional amendment. The Michigan trial court granted Congleton's motion rendering both parties' parental rights unenforceable in the state.

The ruling called into question whether the children were legal orphans in Michigan, impeding essential things as authorizing medical treatment at a public hospital, enrolling the children in school or recovering a lost child from a local police department; the children no longer had an enforceable legal connection to either parent.

In March 2008, Lambda Legal and the ACLU of Michigan successfully urged the Michigan Court of Appeals to reverse the trial court's ruling, arguing that it violated the Full Faith and Credit Clause — a law that protects the validity of judicial decrees across state lines. We also pointed out that Michigan's antigay amendment limiting marriage pertains only to adult relationships and has no bearing on custody cases.

According to the court's majority opinion, "The only relevant consideration in this matter is each individual party's established relationship as an adoptive parent with the children, not their relationship with each other."

The case is Giancaspro v. Congleton.

Central Alabama Pride (CAP) has held a gay pride parade in Birmingham every year since 1989, and its Pride banners have been displayed in accordance with city policy — the same policy that allows the display of banners for a variety of events and organizations, including religious events and organizations.

But in May of 2008 — 19 years after CAP's first Pride parade — Mayor Larry Langford announced that he would neither sign a proclamation nor provide a permit for gay pride based on his religious beliefs that do not "condone that lifestyle choice," going so far as to forbid city workers from attaching Pride banners on city poles.

CAP filed a complaint against the city in August but Birmingham decided to allow a national antigay firm to represent the city. Lambda Legal joined the case as co-counsel at the request of CAP and their attorney, Birmingham civil rights lawyer David Gespass. We are challenging Mayor Langford's actions, claiming free speech and equal protection violations for denying CAP the same city resources that are available to other groups.

The case is Central Alabama Pride, Inc. v. Larry Langford 

Melody Rose is a 35-year-old woman who has been incarcerated in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin since October 2007. In addition to living with HIV while in prison, Rose experienced serious health problems involving her gallbladder. In March 2008, Rose's physician referred her to Fond du Lac Regional Clinic, where she met with Dr. Steven Cahee to discuss having her gallbladder removed.

After Dr. Cahee learned about Rose's HIV, he refused to perform the necessary surgery — stating that he was concerned she might infect him and his surgical team. Later, a surgeon at another medical facility removed Rose's gallbladder in what is considered a routine surgical procedure.

Lambda Legal and AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin (ARCW) filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Rose. The lawsuit alleges that those asked to provide health care to Rose — Dr. Cahee, the Fond du Lac Regional Clinic and Agnesian HealthCare, Inc. — violated both federal and state law by refusing to do so based on her HIV status. In addition to claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act and its state law counterpart, which both prohibit disability discrimination by places of public accommodation, Rose also has a claim under a Wisconsin state law that specifically forbids health care providers (and others) from denying services to people based solely on their HIV status.

ARCW Legal Services Program Director Peter Kimball says, "Discrimination in health care remains a major problem for people living with HIV." Lambda Legal's HIV Project has represented people with HIV for more than 20 years to help them secure equal access to care, affordable medications and unbiased treatment.

The case is Rose v. Cahee, et al. 

In May 2007, the New York State Department of Civil Service (DCS) issued a memo recognizing same-sex couples married in other states or jurisdictions for the purposes of extending spousal health insurance coverage to public employees. As a result, important medical benefits could be provided for mothers like Peri Rainbow and Tamela Sloan, who jointly raise a special needs child adopted from foster care. Rainbow and Sloan, long-time public employees who married in Canada, depend on government protections that come from respect for their marriage.

But the state agency's authority to respect out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples was challenged by the antigay group Alliance Defense Fund (ADF). In March 2008, the Supreme Court, Albany County (a trial court in NY), ruled in favor of DCS, saying that the agency followed the law when it recognized these marriages. ADF opposed the decision.

Lambda Legal argued before the court on behalf of Rainbow and Sloan and in January, the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division, Third Department, upheld the lower court's ruling. Lewis joins other marriage recognition victories in New York courts, including New York Civil Liberties Union's 2008 case Martinez v. County of Monroe, a prior appeals court decision affirming that county officials were lawful in respecting the out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples. This latest victory also affirms Governor Paterson's May 2008 directive to state agencies to respect marriages of same-sex couples performed in other jurisdictions.

On January 26, Lambda Legal, along with Empire State Pride Agenda, New York Civil Liberties Union and the American Civil Liberties Union, released a guide outlining government protections and obligations for same-sex couples in New York who have married out of state. The document is titled: Your Government Respects Your Marriage: Developments in New York State Agency Recognition of Same-Sex Couples' Out-of-State Marriages.

According to the Court's majority opinion, "Once an out-of-state same-sex marriage is recognized in New York,…each of its parties would be 'a party to marriage,' and, thus, a 'legal spouse' who would be entitled to the benefits, rights and obligations of that status."

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

For more information on Lambda Legal's marriage recognition work, go to Marriage Recognition for Same-Sex Couples in New York: Advances in Court.

Rita Goodman and Siobhan LaPiana planned and had two children during their ten-year committed relationship. LaPiana gave birth to the children but both women parented the boys equally. The women drafted and signed a parenting agreement before the birth of their first child, detailing their intent to share all responsibilities of parenthood. But after the couple split, LaPiana began restricting Goodman's interaction with the boys. Goodman went to court and a Cleveland trial court granted her shared custody of the boys with LaPiana.

LaPiana appealed. She pointed to Ohio's antigay constitutional amendment, claiming it prevents courts from ordering shared custody to former lesbian partners, and argued that the court's order infringed on her right to autonomy as a parent.

Lambda Legal entered the case on behalf of Rita Goodman, arguing that the state's antigay constitutional amendment has no bearing on the court's authority to order shared custody between former same-sex partners — the same conclusion reached by the Ohio Supreme Court in a similar case last year.

Because LaPiana agreed to co-parent her children from birth with Goodman, court intervention for the purpose of protecting the child-parent bond between Goodman and her sons is constitutional. "I made a promise to take care of [my sons] always," says Rita Goodman. "And I'm just trying to make good on that promise."

The case is In re S.J.L. and J.K.L.

On January 15, the Louisiana Court of Appeal, Fourth District, upheld a ruling by the Civil District Court for Orleans Parish that the state constitution does, in fact, grant the City of New Orleans the authority to offer health benefits to the domestic partners of city employees and to maintain a registry of domestic partners for residents there.

This latest decision comes a year to the day after Lambda Legal's victory in which the lower court rejected claims from the antigay group Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) that a registry violates laws prohibiting marriage for same-sex couples and that local governments lack the authority to govern such arrangements.

In 1993, the City of New Orleans created a domestic partner registry for the purpose of allowing couples to make public declarations to care for and support each other. Later in 1997, the City extended health insurance benefits to the same-sex partners of city employees. The ADF attacked the policies in 2002 and, at the city's request, Lambda Legal joined the lawsuit.

According to the decision, the registry ordinance "has no effect on the Civil Code articles relating to marriage" and "creates no obligations between the parties who choose to register."

The case is Ralph v. City of New Orleans.

The inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States has filled many Americans with excitement and great hope. On January 20, 2009, President Obama took his oath to preserve, protect and defend the U.S. Constitution, and Lambda Legal joins all Americans in congratulating him and wishing him well as he leads our nation forward.

As president, Barack Obama will soon exercise his power to appoint federal judges. Lambda Legal has sent a letter to the President and the leadership of the Senate Judiciary Committee, explaining the monumental need for fair and impartial nominees to the federal bench who will address issues facing lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV, without bias.

In the letter, Lambda Legal urges the new President to nominate judges and justices who adhere to precedents established in cases of importance to the LGBT community – precedents that, among other things, preserve the right to privacy and protect against antigay bias. In addition, the letter strongly urges President Obama to consider diversity in nominating judges and, in particular, to nominate self-identified LGBT people to federal judgeships.

Lambda Legal, along with our sister organizations, has also written the Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Team urging the reversal of policies that assault the civil and human rights of people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States.

Since the beginning of the epidemic, people with HIV and their advocates have called on U.S. presidents to take visible leadership in condemning discrimination and supporting vital services for people with HIV. It’s time for human and civil rights to be a central part of the U.S. national strategy to end AIDS. Lambda Legal is advocating for the new administration to:

• Immediately issue an executive order to ensure that all federal agencies are complying with the federal Rehabilitation Act and are not imposing medically-unwarranted restrictions on employees and applicants living with HIV.
• Direct the Department of Justice to issue official guidance to state officials, clarifying that a state’s exclusion of people with HIV from occupational training schools and licensing in professions such as barbering, massage, food services and home health care violates federal antidiscrimination law.
• Direct the Surgeon General to re-issue findings reflecting the conclusive scientific evidence showing that needle exchange and syringe access programs reduce drug abuse and prevent HIV infection and urge Congress to lift the ban on federal funding that limits these programs and costs lives.
• Direct the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Attorney General and the Secretary of Transportation to promptly issue regulations implementing the ADA Amendments Act in accordance with its remedial purposes.

Lambda Legal will continue to press the new Administration, to ensure that these steps are taken and other critical HIV civil rights issues are addressed.

As the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama has the opportunity to address many crucial issues facing LGBT people and those with HIV, and to make good on promises to ensure equality for all Americans.

Lambda Legal fights to protect the independence of our courts, so that our communities get a fair hearing based on constitutional principles, equality and fairness. For more information, visit our Fair Courts Project.

Oren Adar and Mickey Smith adopted their Louisiana-born son in 2006 in a New York court, where a judge issued an adoption decree. When Smith attempted to get a new birth certificate for their child, in part so he could add his son to his health insurance, the office of Louisiana State Registrar Darlene Smith told him that Louisiana does not recognize adoption by unmarried parents and so could not issue it.

Lambda Legal filed suit on behalf of Adar and Smith in October, 2007, saying that the registrar was violating the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the U.S. Constitution by refusing to recognize the New York adoption. The Constitution holds that judgments and orders issued by a court in one state are legally binding in other states as well. The Louisiana attorney general disagreed, and advised the registrar that she did not have to honor an adoption from another state that would not have been granted under Louisiana law had the couple lived and adopted there.

In a major victory for same-sex parents nationwide, a U.S. District Court judge in Louisiana ordered the state registrar to honor the New York adoption, saying her continued failure to do so violated the U.S. Constitution. The judge issued a summary judgment ordering her to issue a new birth certificate identifying both Oren Adar and Mickey Smith as the boy's parents.

Adar, who now lives with Smith and their son in San Diego, said, "As an adopted child myself, I understand the need to feel like you belong. I remember as a child wanting to see my own birth certificate and to see my parents listed because it gave me a sense of belonging, of identity and of dignity. I want our child to see Mickey's name and my name as parents on his birth certificate."

The case is Adar v. Smith.

The Iowa Supreme Court has heard oral argument in Varnum v. Brien, Lambda Legal's historic case filed on behalf of six same-sex couples seeking the right to marry, and their families. Varnum is the only marriage lawsuit now pending in any state. In a powerful argument, we urged the court to breathe life into the promise of equality guaranteed in the Iowa Constitution.

Kate and Trish Varnum

One of the couples asking the Court to uphold their right to marry is Kate and Trish Varnum, who live in Cedar Rapids. Trish and Kate took the same last name two years ago, and the couple celebrated their partnership in a commitment ceremony in 2004. But these steps fall short of marriage. In an interview in the Des Moines Register (12.7.08), they said they still would like to marry to declare their love. "We hope that day comes sooner rather than later," Kate Varnum said. "I think Iowa has been ahead of the curve on civil rights. I'm proud to live here. I think Iowans are very fair minded."

The case was argued before the court by former Iowa Solicitor General and Lambda Legal co-counsel Dennis Johnson of Dorsey and Whitney in Des Moines, who called on the justices to make real for gay and lesbian couples the promise of equality in the Iowa Constitution as he read the words out loud:

All men and women are, by nature, free and equal, and have certain inalienable rights — among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness.

Johnson ended by telling the story of Jen and Dawn BarbouRoske: When their daughter McKinley found out her mothers weren't married, she cried. And when they were looking for a preschool, one teacher actually told them that McKinley would not be allowed to talk about her family during "family week" because they were not married and not really a family. Johnson’s powerful retelling of their story demonstrated to the court the stigma that same-sex couples and their children face when the government discriminates against them, denies them the right to marry and brands them as second class citizens.

Dennis Johnson

If the Iowa Supreme Court upholds the district court ruling for marriage equality, it will join the high courts of Massachusetts, California and Connecticut in recognizing the right of same-sex couples to marry.

In December 2005, Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit with the Polk County Court on behalf of six same-sex couples who were denied marriage licenses in Iowa, arguing that denying marriage to the couples violates the Iowa State Constitution. In August of 2007, the district court ruled that denying marriage to same-sex couples is unconstitutional. In March 2008, 15 friend-of-the-court briefs were filed supporting same-sex couples seeking the right to marry, and the right of their children not to have their families branded as inferior. Those briefs were signed by hundreds of Iowans, including former Lieutenant Governors Joy Corning and Sally Pederson.

The other plaintiff families in Varnum v. Brien are David Twombley and Larry Hoch; Dawn and Jen BarbouRoske with their daughters McKinley and Breeanna; Ingrid Olson and Reva Evans with their son Jamison; Jason Morgan and Chuck Swaggerty; and Bill Musser and Otter Dreaming.

Lambda Legal and One Iowa are hosting educational events throughout the state, featuring the plaintiff couples and other local leaders to talk about the importance of marriage equality.