LGBTQ parenting news keeps on coming, even during a pandemic. Here are some of the stories from the U.S. and around the world that I haven’t covered elsewhere.
In the U.S.
- Noelia Rivera-Calderón writes at Refinery 29 about “What It’s Like Being A Queer, Latinx Parent-To-Be During The Coronavirus Pandemic” and how “I want my child to know that I’m fighting for a more supportive world for us.”
- Elana Hayasaka, an emergency medicine physician, parent, and member of Rhode Islanders for Parentage Equality (RIPE), writes in the Providence Journal about when she and her wife were diagnosed with COVID-19, and why the R.I. Uniform Parentage Act (RIUPA) would provide needed legal security for families formed through assisted reproduction.
- A two-dad couple in Tennessee has adopted their 17-year-old son via Zoom, as the judge conducted the court proceedings via the popular videoconferencing software.
- A federal judge has allowed a two-mom couple to continue their lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ waiver allowing South Carolina child service agencies that receive federal funds to discriminate against LGBTQ people and others, reports Metro Weekly. The couple says they were turned away as foster parents by Miracle Hill Ministries, the largest state-contracted foster care agency in South Carolina, because they did not share the agency’s religious beliefs. The agency has also turned away a Jewish woman for not sharing their beliefs.
Around the World
- I’ve written for years about child custody cases between same-sex parents, usually involving a nonbiological mother seeking to have custody and/or visitation rights after separating/divorcing from their children’s biological parent. While slow progress has been made here in the U.S., that’s not necessarily the case elsewhere around the world. Sixth Tone reports on “The Child Custody Case Giving Hope to China’s LGBT Parents,” in a country where same-sex couples still cannot legally wed.
- Freddy McConnell, a transgender man in the U.K., has lost his legal appeal to be named the father, rather than the mother, of his child. (Here’s more on McConnell and the film about his journey to become a parent.)
- After marriage equality became law in Ireland, there “is a presumption that all of the aspects around equality for LGBT+ people and their families were taken care of”—yet legal protections are still lakcing for many LGBTQ parents, including “two male parents, people who have had home inseminations or used a known donor or reciprocal IVF, as well as those who have used surrogacy or sought treatment abroad,” reports the Irish Times.
- Germany has passed a law banning “conversion therapy.”
Advice for All
- KaeLyn Rich at Autostraddle notes “We’re Stressed the F*ck Out” and offers “Practical Tips for Queer Parents in the Pandemic.”
Don’t forget #LGBTQFamiliesDay is June 1!
