Home : Lesbian & Gay Rights : Parenting

Montana High Court Affirms Rights Of Lesbian Parent And Her Children (10/07/2009)
HELENA, MT - The Montana Supreme Court ruled yesterday that a lesbian must be treated as a mother to the two children that she raised with her partner of 10 years. The ACLU, which represented the mother, applauds the decision giving children the right to maintain relationships with both their parents after a break-up.

Tennessee Appeals Court Unanimously Upholds Rights Of Lesbian Mom (09/21/2009)
NASHVILLE - A three-judge panel of the Tennessee Court of Appeals has unanimously ordered a trial court to reconsider a ban preventing a divorced mom from having her partner of 10 years and her own children stay overnight at her home at the same time. The trial court had imposed the so-called "paramour clause" on the lesbian couple even though the psychologist who performed the custodial evaluation in the case found the partner to be a positive influence in the children's lives. The American Civil Liberties Union represented Angel Chandler in her appeal of the restriction.

ACLU Urges Florida Appellate Court To Affirm Ruling Striking Florida Law Barring Gay People From Adopting (08/26/2009)
MIAMI - The American Civil Liberties Union appeared before a Florida appellate court today to urge the court to let stand an earlier ruling striking down Florida’s law barring lesbians and gay men from adopting.

Tides Foundation Awards $150,000 to ACLU of Florida to End State's Gay Adoption Ban (07/23/2009)
MIAMI - The Tides Foundation's State Equality Fund has awarded a $150,000 grant to the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Florida and its Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) Advocacy Project to defend its recent trial court victory ending Florida's ban on adoption by gays and lesbians, and to educate Floridians about the case. The grant funds will pay some of the significant costs of defending the judgment on appeal and of conducting a grass-roots public awareness campaign.

Legal Documents In ACLU Challenge To Gay Adoption Ban Made Public (07/16/2009)
MIAMI - The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and the ACLU national LGBT Project today announced that all of the briefs filed in the ACLU's lawsuit to overturn Florida's ban on gay adoption have been made public. The court approved the release documents, which were sealed in accordance with normal procedure in adoption cases, in response to a motion by Miami attorney Timothy H. Crutchfield on behalf of Wire Magazine seeking public access to the briefs because it is a case of public importance.

ACLU Urges Federal Appeals Court To Require Louisiana To Issue Birth Certificate To Adopted Child Of Gay Couple (07/07/2009)
NEW ORLEANS - The American Civil Liberties Union filed a friend-of-the-court brief today urging a federal appeals court to uphold an earlier decision requiring Louisiana to issue a birth certificate with the names of both parents to a boy who was adopted by a gay couple in New York.

Child Advocacy Groups Urge Florida Appeals Court To Strike Gay Adoption Ban (06/23/2009)
MIAMI – The most respected Florida and national children’s health, welfare and legal advocacy groups filed seven friend-of-the-court briefs before a Florida appeals court Monday urging the court to strike down a Florida law barring lesbians and gay men from adopting. The briefs were filed in support of an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit that resulted in a Florida juvenile court judge striking down the law and granting the adoptions of two brothers to a gay man who has been raising the boys with his partner for more than four years.

Virginia Court of Appeals Rejects Latest Effort to Avoid Enforcement of Vermont Custody Orders in Virginia (06/23/2009)
Richmond, VA -- In a long running custody and visitation dispute, the Virginia Court of Appeals today thwarted Lisa Miller's latest attempt to avoid complying with Vermont orders requiring her to grant visitation to her former partner, Janet Jenkins. The Lambda Legal Defense Fund and the ACLU of Virginia represented Janet Jenkins, the non-biological mother, who asked Virginia to honor a Vermont court's ruling, which awarded her visitation rights after the civil union was dissolved.

ACLU of Montana Defends Parents’ and Children’s Rights (04/17/2009)
MISSOULA, MT — The Montana Supreme Court heard oral arguments today on a legal appeal that could set precedent for whether children have a right to maintain relationships with both their parents after a break-up.

New Web Campaign, Tell-Three.org, Encourages People to Talk About What it Means to be LGBT (02/03/2009)
NEW YORK – Join the Impact has partnered with other national LGBT groups to develop a web based public education campaign, www.tell-three.org, to encourage LGBT people and their supporters to have three conversations with friends and family to help build support for LGBT equality.

ACLU Asks Court To Strike Down Arkansas Parenting Ban (12/30/2008)
LITTLE ROCK - The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit today seeking to strike down a new law that bans any unmarried person who lives with a partner from serving as an adoptive or foster parent in the state of Arkansas.

ACLU Urges Tennessee Appeals Court To Protect Rights Of Lesbian Mom (12/23/2008)
NASHVILLE – In a brief filed today, the American Civil Liberties Union is urging a Tennessee appeals court to remove a ban preventing a divorced mom from having her partner of nine years and her own children stay at her home at the same time. The trial court unconstitutionally imposed the so-called "paramour restriction" on the lesbian couple even though the psychologist who performed the custodial evaluation in the case found the partner to be a positive influence in the children's lives.

ACLU Seeks Immediate Florida Supreme Court Hearing For Gay Adoptive Dad And His Children (12/05/2008)

Florida Trial Court Opens Way For Lesbians And Gay Men To Adopt (11/25/2008)
MIAMI -- A Florida circuit court today struck down a Florida law that bars lesbians and gay men from adopting. The court granted adoptions to a gay man, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, who has been raising two foster children since 2004.

Montana District Court Affirms Parenting Rights (09/29/2008)
Missoula, MT – Montana District Court Judge Ed McLean today released his long-awaited decision in the Kulstad v. Maniaci case. The court recognized Michelle Kulstad as a parent to the two children she raised together with Barbara Maniaci, granting Kulstad time with her children and ordering that Kulstad have joint decision-making authority for matters significantly affecting the children, including their “education, activities, health care and spiritual upbringing.”

Virginia Court Affirms Vermont's Jurisdiction in Same-Sex Couple's Interstate Custody Dispute (08/22/2008)
Frederick County, VA – A state circuit court judge has rejected yet another attempt to overturn a Vermont custody order giving child visitation rights to a lesbian parent from a now-dissolved civil union.

Virginia Supreme Court Hears Arguments in Same-Sex Couple's Interstate Custody Dispute (04/17/2008)
Richmond, VA - The Virginia Supreme Court this morning heard arguments in a long-running custody dispute over a child born during the Vermont civil union of two women. The Lambda Legal Defense Fund, the ACLU of Virginia, and Equality Virginia represented Janet Miller-Jenkins, the non-biological mother, who has asked Virginia to honor a Vermont court's ruling, which awarded her visitation rights after the civil union was dissolved.

Georgia Appeals Court Overturns Contempt Conviction of Lesbian Mother (03/24/2008)
ATLANTA - A long nightmare has ended for Elizabeth Hadaway, who was convicted of criminal contempt of court last year for not handing her daughter over to foster care after she lost custody solely because she's a lesbian. A year and one day after a county court judge sentenced Hadaway to 10 days in jail, the Georgia Court of Appeals today overturned her contempt conviction. The American Civil Liberties Union, which represented her in the appeal and secured the little girl's return home from foster care last May, applauded the court's decision.

ACLU Asks Georgia Appeals Court to Dismiss Jail Sentence for Lesbian Mother (09/19/2007)
ATLANTA -- The American Civil Liberties Union today urged the Georgia Court of Appeals to dismiss a county judge's contempt order and jail sentence against a lesbian mother. Earlier this year, Wilkinson County Judge John Lee Parrott ordered that the child Elizabeth Hadaway hopes to adopt be taken away for three months because Hadaway is a lesbian, and now Hadaway is battling an order from the same judge that she spend as many as ten days in jail.