The past couple of weeks have seen a new round of progress in several marriage-equality lawsuits—and just as with the cases that brought down the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8 (as I wrote a few weeks ago), lesbian moms are again in the forefront, along with a number of gay dads. Two of the cases (in Michigan and North Carolina) even began as challenges to state bans on second-parent adoptions, and later evolved into marriage-ban challenges as well.
Let’s take things alphabetically:
- In Illinois, Lambda Legal and the ACLU have asked for speedy summary judgment in two marriage-equality cases. More than half the the plaintiff couples in Lambda Legal’s Darby v. Orr lawsuit are parents, including moms LaKeesha Harris and Janean Watkins, Michelle Chappell and Michelle Franke, Theresa Volpe and Mercedes Santos, Angelica Lopez and Claudia Mercado, Daphne Scott-Henderson and Ryan Cannon, Patricia Garcia and Julie Barton, and Anne Dickey and Laura Hartman, as well as dads Daryl Rizzo and Jaime Garcia, Robert Hickok and Brian Fletcher, and Brandon and Kevin Bowersox-Johnson.
- In the ACLU’s Illinois Lazaro v. Orr lawsuit, again more than half the the plaintiff couples are parents, including moms Tanya Lazaro and Elizabeth “Liz” Matos, Lynn Sprout and Kathie Spegal, Michelle Mascaro and Corynne Romine, and Kirsten and Tanya Lyonsford, as well as dads Carlos Briones and Richard Rykhus.
- In Michigan, a judge yesterday set the date to hear the case of moms Jayne Rowse and April DeBoer, which began as a challenge to the state’s ban on second-parent adoption and has expanded to contest the state’s constitutional amendment banning marriage for same-sex couples.
- In New Jersey, Lambda Legal on July 3 filed a motion for summary judgment in Garden State Equality, et al. v. Dow, et al. (For background on this case, see my earlier article at Keen News Service.) All but one of the plaintiff couples are parents. They include moms Marsha Shapiro and Louise Walpin, Maureen Kilian and Cindy Meneghin, Erica Bradshaw and Tevonda Hayes Bradshaw, Marcye and Karen Nicholson-McFadden, Elena and Elizabeth Quinones, and dads Thomas Lewis Davidson and William Keith Heimann. The couples’ children are also named as plaintiffs, except for those of Shapiro and Walpin.
- In New Mexico, the ACLU filed a writ of mandamus with the state Supreme Court on July 2, on behalf of several same-sex couples seeking to marry or to have their existing marriages recognized by the state. Such a writ asks the court to decide an issue without waiting for lower courts to rule. More than half of the plaintiffs are parents, including moms Rose Griego and Kimberly Kiel, Miriam Rand and Ona Lara Porter, Sarah Adams and Christine Hayward, and dads A.D. Joplin and Greg Gomez.
- In North Carolina, the ACLU’s Fisher-Borne v. Smith lawsuit began as a suit by moms Marcie and Chantelle Fisher-Borne, challenging the state’s ban on second-parent adoption. On Tuesday, they amended their complaint (as in the Michigan case above) to include marriage equality. The plaintiffs are all parents, and now include not only the Fisher-Bornes, but also moms Crystal Hendrix and Leigh Smith, Shana Carignan and Megan Parker, Leslie Zanaglio and Terri Beck, Lee Knight Caffery and Dana Draa, and dads Shawn Long and Craig Johnson.
- In Pennsylvania, the ACLU’s Whitewood v. Corbett lawsuit, filed Tuesday, is again mostly parents, including moms Deb and Susan Whitewood, Fredia and Lynn Hurdle, Dawn Plummer and Diana Polson (all profiled in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), Helena Miller and Dara Raspberry (profiled in the Jewish Daily Forward), Maureen Hennessey (who raised three children with her spouse Mary Beth McIntyre, until Mary Beth died of cancer earlier this year), as well as dads Fernando Chang-Muy and Len Rieser. The Whitewood’s teen daughters are also named as plaintiffs.
- In Virginia, the ACLU and Lambda Legal plan to file a case, although details are not yet available. I’m guessing parents will be among the plaintiffs.
As I wrote about the DOMA and Prop 8 decisions, we moms (and dads) aren’t the only ones working for marriage equality—but it’s nice to know we’ve been a major part of making them possible, all while washing soccer uniforms and getting dinner on the table for the kids. These families (as well as the child-free plaintiffs) deserve our thanks for dealing with the paperwork, stress, media attention, and general interruptions to their lives that these lawsuits entail, all in the name of justice.
(Apologies if I’ve missed anyone above—and please leave a comment if so. Information about the plaintiffs’ children is not always readily available.)
