Securing Legal Ties for Gay Families
There are around 2 million children being raised by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender parents in America today, but the patchwork of often discriminatory state laws means that those children are excluded and hurt every day.
That can mean denials of health insurance, children being unprotected when one partner dies or just the uncertainty, economic or otherwise, that comes from knowing that one of their parents isn’t considered a parent under the law.
Recognizing this important challenge, the Movement Advancement Project, Family Equality Council and the Center for American Progress in partnership with Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute and the Equality Federation, of which EQCA is a member have just released Securing Legal Ties for Children Living in LGBT Families, a state strategy and policy guide that both examines the impact of discriminatory and outdated state laws, and offers a detailed framework for states to fix these broken laws.
“We must act now to change the laws that place children in jeopardy,” said Rebecca Isaacs, Executive Director of the Equality Federation. “Parenting and family laws needs to protect all children, not just some children, and this report serves as a roadmap for policymakers who want to address and update harmful laws in their state.”
While the report is pretty positive about California, thanks in part to work we’ve done at EQCA (and some of their recommendations are in the works in this year’s legislative package), it does still identify areas like broadening social service protection to recognize the full diversity of blended families and expanding the joint adoption provisions to make sure that couples denied the freedom to marry aren’t denied the ability to protect their family — issues sure to be a part of EQCA’s future work. Check out the report!
