American Civil Liberties Union

The LGBT Project fights discrimination and moves public opinion on LGBT rights through the courts, legislatures and public education. >> More About the Project


Tell 3 Contact Us

Ideological Exclusion

ACLU NewsfeedsACLU News Feed
ACLU Blog
US Constitution

Lesbian Gay Rights : Parenting : Press Releases

Child Advocacy Groups Urge Florida Appeals Court To Strike Gay Adoption Ban (06/23/2009)
MIAMI – The most respected Florida and national children’s health, welfare and legal advocacy groups filed seven friend-of-the-court briefs before a Florida appeals court Monday urging the court to strike down a Florida law barring lesbians and gay men from adopting. The briefs were filed in support of an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit that resulted in a Florida juvenile court judge striking down the law and granting the adoptions of two brothers to a gay man who has been raising the boys with his partner for more than four years.

Virginia Court of Appeals Rejects Latest Effort to Avoid Enforcement of Vermont Custody Orders in Virginia (06/23/2009)
Richmond, VA -- In a long running custody and visitation dispute, the Virginia Court of Appeals today thwarted Lisa Miller's latest attempt to avoid complying with Vermont orders requiring her to grant visitation to her former partner, Janet Jenkins. The Lambda Legal Defense Fund and the ACLU of Virginia represented Janet Jenkins, the non-biological mother, who asked Virginia to honor a Vermont court's ruling, which awarded her visitation rights after the civil union was dissolved.

ACLU of Montana Defends Parents’ and Children’s Rights (04/17/2009)
MISSOULA, MT — The Montana Supreme Court heard oral arguments today on a legal appeal that could set precedent for whether children have a right to maintain relationships with both their parents after a break-up.

New Web Campaign, Tell-Three.org, Encourages People to Talk About What it Means to be LGBT (02/03/2009)
NEW YORK – Join the Impact has partnered with other national LGBT groups to develop a web based public education campaign, www.tell-three.org, to encourage LGBT people and their supporters to have three conversations with friends and family to help build support for LGBT equality.

ACLU Asks Court To Strike Down Arkansas Parenting Ban (12/30/2008)
LITTLE ROCK - The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit today seeking to strike down a new law that bans any unmarried person who lives with a partner from serving as an adoptive or foster parent in the state of Arkansas.

ACLU Urges Tennessee Appeals Court To Protect Rights Of Lesbian Mom (12/23/2008)
NASHVILLE – In a brief filed today, the American Civil Liberties Union is urging a Tennessee appeals court to remove a ban preventing a divorced mom from having her partner of nine years and her own children stay at her home at the same time. The trial court unconstitutionally imposed the so-called "paramour restriction" on the lesbian couple even though the psychologist who performed the custodial evaluation in the case found the partner to be a positive influence in the children's lives.

ACLU Seeks Immediate Florida Supreme Court Hearing For Gay Adoptive Dad And His Children (12/05/2008)

Florida Trial Court Opens Way For Lesbians And Gay Men To Adopt (11/25/2008)
MIAMI -- A Florida circuit court today struck down a Florida law that bars lesbians and gay men from adopting. The court granted adoptions to a gay man, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, who has been raising two foster children since 2004.

Montana District Court Affirms Parenting Rights (09/29/2008)
Missoula, MT – Montana District Court Judge Ed McLean today released his long-awaited decision in the Kulstad v. Maniaci case. The court recognized Michelle Kulstad as a parent to the two children she raised together with Barbara Maniaci, granting Kulstad time with her children and ordering that Kulstad have joint decision-making authority for matters significantly affecting the children, including their “education, activities, health care and spiritual upbringing.”

Virginia Court Affirms Vermont's Jurisdiction in Same-Sex Couple's Interstate Custody Dispute (08/22/2008)
Frederick County, VA – A state circuit court judge has rejected yet another attempt to overturn a Vermont custody order giving child visitation rights to a lesbian parent from a now-dissolved civil union.

Virginia Supreme Court Hears Arguments in Same-Sex Couple's Interstate Custody Dispute (04/17/2008)
Richmond, VA - The Virginia Supreme Court this morning heard arguments in a long-running custody dispute over a child born during the Vermont civil union of two women. The Lambda Legal Defense Fund, the ACLU of Virginia, and Equality Virginia represented Janet Miller-Jenkins, the non-biological mother, who has asked Virginia to honor a Vermont court's ruling, which awarded her visitation rights after the civil union was dissolved.

Georgia Appeals Court Overturns Contempt Conviction of Lesbian Mother (03/24/2008)
ATLANTA - A long nightmare has ended for Elizabeth Hadaway, who was convicted of criminal contempt of court last year for not handing her daughter over to foster care after she lost custody solely because she's a lesbian. A year and one day after a county court judge sentenced Hadaway to 10 days in jail, the Georgia Court of Appeals today overturned her contempt conviction. The American Civil Liberties Union, which represented her in the appeal and secured the little girl's return home from foster care last May, applauded the court's decision.

ACLU Asks Georgia Appeals Court to Dismiss Jail Sentence for Lesbian Mother (09/19/2007)
ATLANTA -- The American Civil Liberties Union today urged the Georgia Court of Appeals to dismiss a county judge's contempt order and jail sentence against a lesbian mother. Earlier this year, Wilkinson County Judge John Lee Parrott ordered that the child Elizabeth Hadaway hopes to adopt be taken away for three months because Hadaway is a lesbian, and now Hadaway is battling an order from the same judge that she spend as many as ten days in jail.

ACLU Secures Return of Seven-Year-Old to Lesbian Mother in Georgia (05/21/2007)
ATLANTA – After almost three months, a seven-year-old girl has been reunited with the woman in whose care she’d thrived for almost a year before being sent to live in a crowded foster home. The child had been held in foster care by the Wilkinson County Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) since February 20, when a judge took her away from her home after he learned that she was being raised by a lesbian.

ACLU Asks Georgia Judge to Return Seven-Year-Old to Lesbian Mother (05/02/2007)
ATLANTA – In a hearing today, the American Civil Liberties Union urged Wilkinson County Superior Court to return a vulnerable seven-year-old girl to the woman in whose care she had been thriving for a year. The county’s Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) has held the girl in foster care since February 20, when a judge took her away after he learned that she was being raised by a lesbian.

ACLU Applauds Defeat of Anti-Gay Adoption and Foster Care Bill; Calls Defeat a Tremendous Victory for Arkansas Children (03/27/2007)
LITTLE ROCK, AR - The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas cheered the decision of the Arkansas House Judiciary Committee today to reject SB 959, a bill that would have banned gay people and most unmarried heterosexual couples who live together from adopting or serving as foster parents.

ACLU of Arkansas Sets the Record Straight on Anti-Gay Adoption and Foster Care Bill Headed to Senate (03/12/2007)
LITTLE ROCK, AR – The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas condemns the decision of an Arkansas Senate committee this morning to send to the floor SB 959, a bill that would ban gay people and most unmarried heterosexual couples who live together from adopting or serving as foster parents.

ACLU of Arkansas Decries Adoption and Foster Care Bill as Anti-Gay and Anti-Child (03/05/2007)
LITTLE ROCK, AR – The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas today firmly denounced a bill introduced to the Arkansas State Legislature that would ban gay people and most unmarried heterosexual couples who live together from adopting or serving as foster parents. The bill was introduced today, just months after the state supreme court unanimously struck down a ban on fostering by gay people.

Updated Second Edition of ACLU Publication "Too High a Price" Details How Children are Hurt by Restrictions Against Parenting by Gay People (11/13/2006)
NEW YORK –The American Civil Liberties Union released an updated second edition of its publication "Too High a Price: The Case Against Restricting Gay Parenting," which compiles decades of social science research, the positions of the major child health and welfare organizations and government data to show how children are hurt by restrictions on parenting by lesbian and gay men.

1 2 3 4 5 Next >
Click to show/hide issues list
Your Local ACLUcongressional scorecardmultimediadonatepublicationssupport usblogcontact