Category Archives: LGBT
Florida Law & Unmarried Same-Sex Partners: Cohabitation Agreements
The first state in this country to recognize same-sex marriage was Massachusetts in May of 2004. Alternatively, the state of Florida has permitted same-sex marriage since the United States Supreme Court’s June 2015 decision was handed down. Obviously, committed same-sex relationships have pre-existed both of these dates and in many instances, these couples relied… Read More »
Opportunities for Florida Same-Sex Couples
Since the June 2015 Supreme Court ruling in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges same-sex couples across the United States can now enjoy various legal protections. The ruling mandated that every couple has a fundamental right to marry. With this recognition of same-sex marriage comes access to many rights protecting your assets and family…. Read More »
Protective Orders During Separation
Even though most adults enter into the divorce process with the best interest of everyone involved in mind, it is not unusual for the relationship climate to become volatile. Divorce is extremely stressful, and in some situations this stress has led to abuse within LGBT households. Physical, mental, and emotional abuse can take their… Read More »
LGBT Couple Sues State for Making it More Difficult for Them to Start a Family
On August 8th, the New York Times featured an article on two brave lesbian couples who decided to take the state of New Jersey to court for making it more difficult on them (and others) to receive fertility treatments (and start a family) simply because they are homosexual. Specifically, their insurance company, Horizon Blue… Read More »
Florida Same-Sex Couple Uses Adoption Process to Obtain Equal Child Custody Benefits
On July 11th, The Ledger featured a story highlighting a same-sex couple relying on the Florida state adoption process in order to ensure that both parents had equal custody rights with respect to their child. While this strikes many people as unfair–given that a heterosexual married couple does not require a father to do… Read More »
Cultivating LGBT Adoptions & Foster Parenting
On June 29th, NPR featured a story on the importance of educating families about LGBT child fostering and adoption. Perhaps surprisingly, out of the more than 400,000 U.S. children in foster care, there are a disproportionate number of LGBT kids, in part because it can be difficult to find placement (and thus facilitate eventual… Read More »
A Look at Florida’s LGBT Protections
After the shooting at the nightclub in Orlando in June, some LGBT citizens (rightfully so) questioned whether the legal culture in the state of Florida perhaps implied that affording LGBT individuals fewer rights than others was an acceptable practice. For example, Florida still does not provide the LGBT community with protection from discrimination in… Read More »
New Study Highlights Similarities in Child Outcomes between Same-Sex and Different-Sex Parents
A new study just released dispels the age-old myth that same-sex couples cannot be good parents by using scientifically-sound principles to break apart some discriminatory theories. Specifically, researchers from top institutions found absolutely no differences with same-sex couples when it came to partner relationships, a child’s emotional and overall health, or parent-child relationships, in… Read More »
U.S. Supreme Court Upholds LGBT Adoption
On March 7th, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously reversed an Alabama Supreme Court ruling that denied parental rights to a lesbian adoptive mother. The couple had conceived three children over the 16-year span of their relationship, where one was the biological mother and the other the adoptive mother. The final adoption decree, as administered… Read More »
Florida Still Not Recognizing Same-Sex Spouse on Birth Certificates
In spite of progress the country has made since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on same-sex marriage equality, same-sex couples in Florida are still being denied the right to be listed on their child’s birth certificate without going through the process of stepparent adoption. Specifically, for a couple who has been married where one… Read More »
