Catch up on a few of the stories about LGBTQ parents and our families that I haven’t covered already, including family profiles, information on paid leave for chosen families, and why no one should mess with lesbian mom and Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig.
Personal stories, political news, entertainment tidbits, and more that I haven’t covered elsewhere! A buffet for your reading pleasure!
Connecticut and Oregon each enacted laws in June that extend paid family leave with broad definitions of who’s in a family, among other new provisions.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy (D) yesterday signed a bill expanding the state’s paid family leave law in a number of ways—notably, by expanding the definition of “family” under the law to include chosen families and by expanding the definition of “parent” to include foster parents and those who become parents via gestational surrogacy.
Leave policies for parents welcoming new children “still commonly exclude LGBTQ families,” according to a new report. And the harms of poor paid leave policies extend broadly to the LGBTQ community.
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) turned 25 this week, but LGBTQ parents are less likely than others to have access to paid leave, a recent article reminds us.
A judge has blocked the U.S. Department of Labor’s new rule that married same-sex spouses who are otherwise eligible could to take time off under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), even if they don’t live in states that recognize their marriage.
A proposed new federal rule would extend protections under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to all eligible employees married to same-sex spouses, regardless of where they live. And announcements from the Social Security Administration (SSA) and Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA) extend other benefits to same-sex couples — up to a point.
The U.S. Department of Labor has issued new guidance that confirms married same-sex couples are now eligible for the same leave as married different-sex couples under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). That’s one of the very concrete Good Things to happen since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on DOMA — although I’d argue that all committed couples should be eligible, married or not. Unmarried same-sex parents should note, however, that they still have some rights under FMLA.
Today is the 20th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), so it’s the perfect time to remind folks that FMLA allows people to take time off to care for a child (biological or adoptive) who is legally the child of a same-sex partner—that is, even if you are not on the child’s birth certificate or haven’t done a second-parent adoption. Here’s the story of two lesbian moms who used FMLA leave, despite having to be extra prepared to explain matters to their employer.
