Of Tragedy and Light
This was not the post I intended to write today—but it has been a weekend of tragedies. How can we find light in the world when there remains so much darkness?
rhode island
Rhode Island Enacts Law to Make It Easier for LGBTQ Families to Secure Parentage
Rhode Island has enacted a law to establish a streamlined confirmatory adoption process, making it easier for LGBTQ parents to create secure legal ties to their children born through assisted reproduction.
Rhode Island Senate Unanimously Passes Confirmatory Adoption Bill to Make Securing Parentage Easier for LGBTQ Families
The Rhode Island Senate voted unanimously yesterday to pass a bill that would streamline the process of confirmatory adoptions, ensuring that more LGBTQ families have access to this unfortunately necessary tool for securing our legal ties to our children.
Rhode Island Bill Seeks to Simplify Confirmatory Adoptions
Rhode Island legislators yesterday heard testimony in support of a bill that would streamline the process of confirmatory adoptions, ensuring that more LGBTQ families have access to this unfortunately necessary tool for protecting our legal ties to our children.
“We Are ALL Readers” Children’s Book Festival Is a Collaborative, Community Response to Book Bans
A coalition of libraries, community groups, and children’s book creators in Rhode Island have responded to the spate of book bans around the country by creating a festival celebrating diverse children’s books and featuring two Newbery Honor authors. It will give local families a way to engage with diverse books, but also offers a model for other communities.
2020 LGBTQ Parenting Year in Review
In a year like no other, LGBTQ families, like all others, struggled with the physical, mental, and economic challenges of the pandemic. And with children of LGBTQ parents much more likely to live in poverty than those with non-LGBTQ parents, the pandemic may have hit many LGBTQ families, like those of other marginalized groups, particularly hard. Pandemic aside, there were many political and legal challenges—and a few victories—directly related to LGBTQ parents and our children in the U.S. this year. Here are the highlights, good and bad.
Marriage Is Not Enough: Securing Parentage in New England and Beyond
Marriage equality has been the law nationwide since 2015, but married and unmarried LGBTQ couples who use third-party assisted reproductive technologies (ART) still face significant obstacles in most states to securing ironclad legal parentage for both parents. Progress in a few states, most recently in New England, may point the way forward.
Rhode Island Passes Bill Protecting Families Formed Through Assisted Reproduction
The Rhode Island Legislature this afternoon passed a bill that updates the state’s parentage laws to provide stronger, more equitable protections for families formed via assisted reproduction.
Making it Easier to Secure Nonbiological Parents’ Rights: Take Action in 3 States
Yes, even in Massachusetts, which led the nation in marriage equality, married same-sex couples who use assisted reproduction still need to do lengthy, expensive, and intrusive second-parent adoptions in order for their children to have ironclad legal ties to both parents. A new bill would greatly simplify the process. Bills in New Hampshire and Rhode Island would also streamline the recognition of nonbiological parents—but they all need your support.
Parentage Bills to Help LGBTQ Families and Others Fail in New York, Rhode Island
It’s been a disappointing few days for legislation that would have helped LGBTQ families, as bills that would have more effectively protected families formed through assisted reproduction failed in both New York and Rhode Island.