“It’s not marriage equality until same-sex parents both appear on birth certificates” say two leading LGBTQ attorneys—and I couldn’t agree more.
Camilla Taylor and Kyle Palazzolo, attorneys with Lambda Legal, write in today’s Guardian that “Same-sex couples in Wisconsin, Indiana and Florida are still in court, seeking recognition of their marriages in order to obtain two-parent birth certificates for their children. Utah recently settled a similar lawsuit by agreeing to provide two-parent birth certificates to the children of same-sex spouses.”
The rule that “a birth mother’s spouse is the legal parent of a child born during their marriage,” they say, “should apply equally to the marital children of lesbian spouses, as numerous courts already have pointed out.”
As I’ve noted before, it’s been a struggle to get even this far, with same-sex couples in Arkansas and Utah (and probably other states) having to go to court to be recognized. Kansas, it seems, is still hedging, having agreed to issue birth certificates listing both same-sex parents in two cases, but refusing to call the actions a policy change. Future applications will be reviewed “on a case-by-case basis.” Texas, after some technological hurdles, seems now to be issuing birth certificates as it should.
A proper birth certificate isn’t just a “nice to have” item. As Taylor and Palazzolo point out, parents “need accurate two-parent birth certificates in order to enroll their child in school, travel or apply for child-centered benefits.”
I encourage you to read that last link, too, for a good explanation by Austin attorney Suzanne Bryant of why, even with a proper birth certificate, second-parent adoptions are still a good idea. As many LGBTQ organizations have said, being on a child’s birth certificate alone may still not be enough for someone to be recognized as a parent in all jurisdictions and in all circumstances. Second-parent adoptions or court judgments of parentage are still recommended.
Taylor and Palazzolo feel, as I’m sure many of us do, that it is “frustrating” to still be fighting for our family relationships, but note that “No court case, no matter how historic, has ever ended a civil rights struggle or state-sanctioned discrimination, and our marriage victory is no exception.” I’m glad that they, and many other equality-minded attorneys around the country, are on the case.
