It’s been almost a year since marriage equality has been law across the U.S.—but Nebraska still isn’t issuing proper birth certificates to the children of same-sex couples.
WOWT reports on the situation of Kristin and Katie Collins-Henderson, a married Nebraska couple expecting their second baby. When they had their first child, before marriage equality, they went to Iowa for the birth, in order to ensure both of them would be on the birth certificate. They thought they could stay in their home state this time. Unfortunately, the state Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) told them that they were still in the process of making changes to the certificates, and that there would be a public hearing on May 16th to get input on wording changes. After that, if changes are agreed on, they go to the state attorney general and then the governor for approval.
Chances are high this won’t happen before the birth of their second child. Of course, if it happens later, they can get the certificate changed—but it means extra paperwork and hassle when they’re busy caring for an infant and a toddler.
Bonus fun fact: The Nebraska state motto? “Equality before the law.”
Elsewhere, Florida, which was also delinquent in allowing same-sex parents onto their children’s birth certificates (and was sued by three lesbian couples because of it), looks like it will soon fix matters. A Jacksonville attorney told Watermark magazine that she spoke with a representative of the state’s Department of Vital Statistics, who said the Department created a task force to solve the problem. No word yet on the exact timing, though. [UPDATE, 3:30 p.m. ET: Equality Florida has just reported that the Department of Health has instructed all hospitals to issue birth certificates with the names of both same-sex parents on them.]
