Married Same-Sex Couples Need Not Be Pre-certified to Adopt Spouse's Child

A Monroe County Family Court Judge has ruled that married same-sex couples should be treated like their heterosexual counterparts when one parent wants to adopt the child of the other. Usually, same-sex couples needed to submit to an intrusive and expensive process called pre-certification when one wanted to adopt the other's child. This situation is very common with lesbian couples where the couple have used a sperm donor to have a child. This required the non-biological parent to go through the pre-certification process to allow both to be legal parents. On the other hand, married heterosexual couples in the same situation are allowed to skip the pre-certification process and file for a step-parent adoption. This ruling allows married same-sex couples to be treated the same as straight couples.

While this is just one judge in family court and it is unclear how widespread this ruling will be adopted, I expect this practice will become widespread.

Guidance for NY Same-Sex Couples

Several advocacy groups have released guidance on how New York State will treat same-sex couples who married out of state. It's available here.

It a good summary of where we stand, but please keep in mind that this is an emerging area of law and everything is subject to change.

Our Long National Nightmare is Finally Coming to an End

So many more bloggers more eloquent than I will write about the victory. All I can add is that I am very hopeful that Obama can start to address the big issues in a way that hasn't been done in a generation.

Meanwhile, in California, gay marriage looks like it may have been overturned. Again. We should have an answer by the end of the day.

HIV Travel Ban Partly Repealed

Yesterday the president signed into law a bill that lifts a ban on immigrants who are HIV-positive. This is welcome news and a huge step in the right direction, but HIV+ travelers are still barred from entry by the Department of Health and Human Services which lists HIV as a communicable disease barring entry.

Circuit Admonishes Immigration Judge for Gay Stereotypes

A panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals criticized immigration Judge Alan Vomacka for "inappropriate remarks--which included gratuitous comments on the petitioner's sexuality, as well as unfounded speculations about homosexuals in general..." in a decision published this week. The panel was so disturbed by IJ Vomacka that they ordered a new hearing before a different immigration judge.

The petitioner was an asylum seeker from Guyana who added sexual orientation claims to his asylum application late in the game, which would surely bring into question his credibility. The decision of the IJ was so strange in parts, however, that it went far beyond the typical skepticism that an IJ would have towards an asylum seeker in this position.

CA Supreme Court OK's Same Sex Marriage

Breaking news here.

Lesbian Reaches Settlement With Village Restaurant That Discriminated

A lesbian who was thrown out of Caliente Cab Company in the Village because the restaurant's bouncer thought she was a male using the women's room reached a settlement with the restaurant today. The bouncer refused to even look at her identification card proving she was female, and then threw her and her party out of the restaurant.

As part of the settlement, the restaurant agreed to add gender identity and expression to its nondiscrimination policies, pay $35,000 in damages, and take other remedial measures.