The Full Faith and Credit Clause and Same Sex Marriage: Why Aren’t States Required to Recognize Out of State Marriages?
So why aren’t states required to recognize marriages performed in other states?
Article 4, Section 1 of the United States Constitution reads:
Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings
We Are Family: New U.S. Custom’s Rule Liberalizes Declaration Process for Same Sex Couples and Their Families
It was a glorious vacation out of the country. Happy but tired from travel, you begin filling out a Customs Declaration for your family on the plane home to the United States . But wait, you wonder. Are we a family? In the Windsor decision, the United States Supreme Court held that restricting the federal interpretation […]
Transgender People and the Social Security Administration: Name and Gender Marker Change
Once a probate court has granted a transgender client’s petition for name change, a common next visit is to the Social Security Administration to change the name and gender marker in the Social Security Administration’s records.
To change your name on your Social Security card, you will need to submit an Application for a Social
Connecticut Stepparent Adoptions: Is a Home Study Required?
“Second parent adoption” is the term used to describe adoptions in which the biological parent of one child agrees to allow another person responsible for the child’s care to legally adopt the child. This person may be a same sex spouse.
If you are interested, I have written more extensively previously about what second parent adoptions are
Ten Connecticut Companies Earn Perfect Scores on HRC’s Corporate Equality Index
Last week we discussed how Connecticut cities fared in the Human Rights Campaign’s 2013 Municipal Equality Index. This week, the Human Rights Campaign released its 12th annual Corporate Equality Index.
So how did Connecticut-based companies do this year?
The HRC Foundation
Transgender People and Probate Court Name Change Petitions
When transgender clients call upon us to assist them with a name and/or gender marker change, it can often be a time of stress for them. People whose gender identity is inconsistent with the sex ascribed to them at birth understand intimately how societal expectations can shape people’s responses to how one expresses that gender identity.
As GLAD writes:
Why Legally Married Same Sex Couples Should Adopt Their Children
This week we got one of our favorite calls — a couple looking for assistance with their child’s adoption.
Prior to marriage equality in Connecticut, second parent adoption was critical for same sex couples because it provided a route to legal recognition of parenthood for them, even though they were unable to marry. Now that same sex couples are able to marry
Nelson Mandela and Gay Rights: “The True Test of our Devotion to Freedom is Just Beginning.”
Today, the world mourns the loss of Nelson Mandela. My law school Sexual Orientation and the Law professor devoted time to the post-apartheid South African constitution — a document that has been heralded as the new international model and which would not exist but for Nelson Mandela’s leadership. The South African constitution includes the freedom from […]
Hartford and New Haven Score at the Top of 2013 Human Rights Campaign LGBT Municipal Equality Index
The Human Rights Campaign and Equality Federation have released their second annual national Municipal Equality Index, an evaluation of a “city’s laws and policies and an examination of how inclusive city services are of LGBT people.” Cities are rated on a scale of 0-100, based on the city’s laws, policies, benefits, and services. There are 100 […]
Connecticut Anti-Discrimination Laws for Transgender People
On July 1, 2011, Governor Dannel Malloy signed Public Act 11-55, “An Act Concerning Discrimination,” into law, making Connecticut the 4th state in New England and the 15th state in the United States “to provide explicit anti-discrimination protections for transgender people.”
The act, which went into effect on October 1, 2011, protects against discrimination in
