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GAY AND LESIBAN PARENTING WITH THE LAW Do Gays and Lesbians have the same rights as heterosexual families when it comes to the law and parenting? Should Gay and
Submitted by davidjax on April 15, 2008
Category: Miscellaneous
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Do Gays and Lesbians have the same rights as heterosexual families when it comes to the law and parenting? Should Gay and Lesbians be allowed to adopt children or even raise children? How does the law look at same sex parenting? Gays and Lesbians fall in love, have sexual intercourse, sexual relations, and care for each other and their children without the sanctity of the state. Since the “gay-by boom” of the 1980’s, increasing numbers of lesbian and gay couples are choosing to have families and are raising children. Only recently, in very limited situations and jurisdictions, have gays and lesbians successfully challenged legal restrictions on formal marriage, domestic partnerships, civil unions, adoption and foster planning. Some of the most successful petitions have been brought by “second parents,” a term coined by Delaney (1991) to denote the lesbians (or gay) partners of legal parents who wished to have their relationships with their partner’s child recognized by the state. Legal parental status is necessary for a second-parent to make legal decisions regarding the child and for the parenting couple to organize family life with choices similar to heterosexual parents and stepparents. Federal policies such as income tax exemptions, intestate succession, and eligibility for entitlement programs require a legally defined family. Most private insurance carriers require a state-sanctioned family for extension of health or life insurance benefits. Doctors, as well as, schools, day care centers, prisons, and other institutions often require that parents, and only parents, make arrangements for the care of their children. (Connolly 1998, 2002) Proponents of same-sex adoption contend that “discrimination against homosexuals is prevalent in the family law context where judges and agencies are able to exercise broad discretion.
In one of the articles I read, The Voice of the Petitioner: The Experiences of Gay and Lesbian Parents in...
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