Feature Archives

A New York State court ruled on Friday, February 4th that same-sex couples must be allowed to marry. State Supreme Court Justice Doris Ling-Cohan said in the decision that the basic freedoms that are granted to same-sex loving people under the State Constitution were violated when same-sex couples were not given the right to marry in New York State. The ruling said the Constitution requires same-sex couples to have equal access to marriage, and that the plaintiffs in the case must be given marriage licenses. Lambda Legal had filed the lawsuit in 2004 on behalf of five couples who wanted to get marriage licenses in New York City.

Justice Ling-Cohan stayed the ruling for 30 days in case there is an appeal. Because the New York State Supreme Court is a trial-level court, the City of New York could appeal the ruling to a higher court. Thus, the legality of gay marriage in New York is likely to be decided by the Court of Appeals, which is the state's highest court. On Thursday, a judge in an Albany court had reinstated charges that New Paltz Mayor Jason West had not lived up to his oath of office to uphold the law when he had issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples last year.

Lambda Legal is currently litigating cases seeking marriage for same-sex couples in New Jersey, California (with NCLR and ACLU) and Washington State (with NWLC). The Washington State Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in that lawsuit on March 8, and a decision is pending from the trial court in the California case. Meanwhile, some same-sex couples in Massachusetts had already filed for divorce by the end of 2004, which was the first year in which they were allowed to marry in that state.

Past Indybay Coverage of the same-sex marriage struggle in New York State

January 31, 2005: Alameda County's Board of Supervisors last week voted 4-0 to pass a resolution that prohibits gender identity discrimination in county employment, county services, and county contracting. This includes use of facilities such as restrooms in county buildings. It forbids discrimination based on a person's "gender-related" identity, appearance or behavior, "whether or not stereotypically associated with a person's assigned sex at birth."

Board President Keith Carson and his staff wrote the resolution, and he was reportedly supported by community activists such as Patricia Kevena Fili and Jamison Green. Conservative groups have protested the resolution, saying that conflicts between transgendered people and the public at large would occur as a result of it.

Transgender Law Center | People in Search of Safe Restrooms | Meeting Notes from 1/25/05 Alameda County Board of Supervisors Meeting

A group of anti-authoritarian activists, affiliated with Anarchist People of Color (APOC) and Gay Shame: A Virus in the System, who are working against a gay "business improvement district" (BID) development/gentrification plan which would raise living costs in a heavily working-class/immigrant community in Oakland, came together to write about their ongoing discussions, and speak to concerns which they say have been silenced by development proponents and anti-gentrification organizers alike. "[What] we have laid out is, in fact, an attempt to make our organizing and the activist work we do, in some ways, like the kinds of worlds we hope to create and inhabit... It is... imperative that the methodology of our resistance is modeled after a non-hierarchical structure that displaces power from the top-down scheme that we are all too accustomed to." Read the article

January 10, 2005: The U.S. Supreme Court today declined to hear a case that challenged Florida's ban on gay adoption. The case challenging the Florida law was filed by the ACLU.

Steve Lofton and Roger Croteau, who are known to their five foster kids as "Dad and Rodge," have provided a happy, stable home for their family. Their kids are Frank, 14, Tracy, 14, Bert, 10, Wayne, 8, and Ernie, 5. When they were infants, Frank, Tracy, and Bert were placed with Steve and Roger by Florida's Department of Children and Families. Wayne and Ernie were placed with the family by the state of Oregon three years ago. Some of the children were placed with Lofton and Croteau when they were infants, and have never known another parent outside of their current family. The family has moved from Miami to Portland, but the Florida foster kids are still subject to Florida adoption laws because of the standard relocation agreement. The parents continued to received excellent marks for taking such good care of the children. However, these men cannot adopt their children because of Florida adoption law. Their son Bert has been deemed suitable for adotion- by heterosexuals. More about Bert

More info: Lambda Legal Overview of State Adoption Laws in the US as of 12/15/2004 | HRC's Legal Overview of Adoption Rights in the US | Too High a Price: The Case Against Restricting Gay Parenting | Let Him Stay | NCLR Statement | Lambda Legal Statement | Human Rights Campaign Statement | Equality Florida | We 2 Have Parental Rights | ACLU Lesbian and Gay Rights Project | An Anti-gay foster care ban in Arkansas was overturned at the end of 2004.

12/29/2004: The City and County of San Francisco and twelve same-sex couples who were married in San Francisco in February of 2004 have taken the State of California to court over the state's anti-gay marriage law. This suit seeks to overturn that that law by showing that the current law of the State of California violates the spirit of the State Constitution, which is the highest authority in California. Read more | Equality California Reports from Court: 12/22/2004 Reports | 12/23/2004

San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer had originally stated that he would rule about the legal challenge to California's ban on gay marriage in January, but now it looks like the decision might not come until April. Legal arguments in the case ended last Thursday, but the Judge has requested additional written arguments by January 14th. A case-management conference will be held next week. After he receives the written arguments, the Judge could schedule more oral arguments, and at their conclusion he would have 90 more days in which to issue a ruling. The new evidence Kramer is seeking concerns sociological reports from both sides over the effect of marriage on families.
One Indybay reporter wonders why SF Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer did not invite testimony about same-sex couples, queer families, or other factual matters related to this issue.

12/16/2004: In 2003, Governor Gray Davis signed AB 205, which provides registered domestic partners with nearly all the rights, benefits, and responsibilities granted to spouses under state law, and takes effect after January 1st, 2005. Domestic Partner rights have come a long way since the first domestic partner law was signed in California in 1999, establishing a registry, giving registered domestic partners the right to visit each other in the hospital, and giving domestic partner benefits for certain state employees. Read more In addition to SB 205, the California Insurance Equality Act, Assembly Bill 2208, prohibits insurance providers from issuing policies or plans that treat registered domestic partners and married spouses differently. More from NCLR

The National Center for Lesbian Rights and Equality California have released a new handbook that explains who can register as domestic partners, how to register, how to dissolve a partnership, and what rights, benefits, protections and responsibilities will be provided to registered domestic partners in California after January 1, 2005. Next on the agenda for same-sex partners: AB 19.

Marriage Equality San Francisco blog | National Center for Lesbian Rights | Equality California | The Ins and Outs of California Domestic Partnerships from the ACLU | "Shadow Marriage | Marrying Apartheid: The Failure of Domestic Partnership Status

12/6/2004: The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) filed a lawsuit today, Cook v. Rumsfeld, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts on behalf of twelve lesbian and gay veterans seeking re-instatement in the U.S. Armed Forces. The vets were all discharged under the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban on gay, lesbian and bisexual military personnel, and they all had served during the "war on terror." SLDN's executive director says, "'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' creates an unacceptable and unconstitutional second class citizenship for our men and women in uniform. Forcing gays into a federally imposed closet and firing them for telling the truth is blatantly wrong. This law robs our nation of the talents and skills of thousands at a time when we can ill- afford to lose a single service member in the war on terrorism." Extensive info on SLDN's website.

Meanwhile, eight presumably straight soldiers are suing the US over the stop-loss policy. Six of the soldiers have served out their full contracts, but are being forced to extend their service. Read more from the Center for Constitional Rights. Several American soldiers have left the military and moved to Canada. Monday, December 6th, 2004 was the first Canadian immigration hearing for US Army Deserter Jeremy Hinzman. Democracy Now 10/15 | Democracy Now 7/15

December 2004: A predominately gay and lesbian group of naval academy alumni sought recognition as an official alumni association this month, and was rejected by the governing board of the Naval Academy Alumni Association. The chapter had reorganized itself this year in an effort to win recognition. It had established its base as the Castro district, a predominantly gay neighborhood of San Francisco, after trustees said last year that new chapters have to be "geographic in nature." The group also rewrote its bylaws to clarify that it doesn't exclude heterosexual graduates, and it inducted its first straight member. Castro Chapter Website Gayapolis Article