U.S. Senate passes LGBT-inclusive Violence Against Women Act reauthorization bill

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force – April 26, 2010

The Task Force applauds the U.S. Senate’s passage by a vote of 68-31 today of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) reauthorization bill, which for the first time includes explicit protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) survivors of domestic violence.

The 1994 federal law provides funds to enhance investigation and prosecution of violent crimes such as domestic violence and sexual assault, and it bolsters victim services programs. The Task Force Action Fund, along with a broad coalition of organizations including the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, has been lobbying for inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity in the law.

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If ‘Forever’ Doesn’t Work Out: The Same-Sex Prenup

March 23, 2012
New York Times
By LOUISE RAFKIN

WHEN Ellen DeGeneres married Portia de Rossi in 2008, people wanted to know two things: What did they wear? And was there a prenup?

Regarding the first question, the couple wore Zac Posen.

The second question — Ms. DeGeneres’s representatives did not respond when asked if she had a prenup or not — has become important for many other same-sex couples, who have discovered that all the new opportunities to marry are accompanied by a gloomy companion that hangs silently over every prospective newlywed: the possibility of divorce.

“The old adage ‘with rights come responsibilities’ comes to mind,” said Frederick Hertz, an Oakland, Calif., lawyer and an author of “Making It Legal: A Guide to Same-Sex Marriage, Domestic Partnership & Civil Unions” (Nolo Press, 2009).

Having mediated ugly same-sex breakups, both for those legally married and in domestic partnerships, Mr. Hertz is a staunch advocate of the prenuptial contract; he has worked on more than 100 in the last five years. Yet Mr. Hertz’s unscientific guess is that less than 20 percent of same-sex couples talk to lawyers before reciting vows.

Lisa Padilla, 49, a Manhattan lawyer, and Allison Drew Klein, 55, a sales representative for Pitney Bowes, met during Rosh Hashana at their synagogue in 2010. In a matter of weeks, they formed a strong bond.

For both women, previous long-term relationships had ended badly, and in Ms. Padilla’s case, the problems involved finances. Ms. Padilla, who owns her own law firm, said she made far more than her previous partner and paid for most of the couple’s expenses.

After a giddy three months of dating, Ms. Padilla and Ms. Klein moved in together. They had been sharing costs equally, so when Ms. Padilla broached the subject of a prenuptial agreement, Ms. Klein was taken aback.

“It was unsettling, and took some of the romance away, “ she said. “I read Lisa’s insistence for a prenup as a lack of trust.”

Both women had considerable assets, including apartments and investments. “I really wanted the assurance that if we were making a mistake, we could extricate ourselves easily,” Ms. Padilla said.

Ms. Klein thought the issue was moot. After all, this was supposed to last forever.

For months, the question languished and the prenuptial document that Ms. Padilla had drafted lay untouched.

Both women hired lawyers, and the process was nerve-racking, more so — curiously — for Ms. Padilla. “I was skip-happy in love, but scared, too,” she said. “I could see how the opportunities for misinterpretation abounded — both between the two of us and among our friends.”

“We were looking ahead,” she added, “but we didn’t have anything on paper.”

Eventually, Ms. Klein agreed to sign.

“In my opinion, Lisa had been taken advantage of in other relationships,” she said. “I wanted her to be able to feel safe in this one.”

The women were married in Manhattan last December. “For the first time, I feel like I’m with an equal partner,” Ms. Padilla said. “My primary purpose with the prenup was to take finances off the table and engage in the relationship with our hearts.”

Michele Kahn, the lawyer who represented Ms. Klein, strongly advises those thinking about marriage to grasp all the ramifications, saying, “During breakups, it’s everyone for themselves.”

She says most often it is not the cost of the agreement ($2,000 to $5,000) that short-circuits the process, but the complicated questions that can arise over, say, alimony; compensation for a stay-at-home parent; and retirement accounts, which for same-sex couples cannot be divided without penalties and tax consequences.

Same-sex marriages are not federally recognized, which can make things messier, especially if a couple moves to a state that does not acknowledge their union. “If the second state follows the rules of the first it probably will be binding, but some states have looser standards and if it’s not written according to those looser standards, it might not be binding,” Mr. Hertz said.

Prenuptial agreements were originally established to protect family wealth. That notion is sometimes cloudy in same-sex relationships.

“In the gay community there is a lot of socializing among people with large discrepancies in both income and family wealth,” said Jooske Stil, a marriage and family therapist in Oakland. “Romance often blooms before there’s full disclosure about economic backgrounds and family inheritances.”

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Gov. McDonnell Says Marriage Equality Should Be Left To The States, But Claims Gays Make Inferior Parents

ThinkProgress.org, by Igor Volsky, February 24, 2012

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) said that he respected Maryland’s right to decide the issue of marriage equality, just one day after that state passed legislation same-sex marriage. “The beauty of our regulators under the 10th amendment…is that states are the laboratories are democracy and innovation and they have the freedom to make different choices,” he said during a Politico forum this morning with Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D). “Martin and I have different views on this issue, on others, but that’s what’s great about having 50 states.”

But when O’Malley responded by suggesting that the well-being of children informed his own evolution towards marriage equality — “we concluded that it was not right and not just that the children of gay parents should homes that are protected in a lesser way under the law than other children,” he said — McDonnell remained unconvinced, insisting that gays and lesbians make worse parents than heterosexual couples and should thus be the last to adopt children:

MCDONNELL: Most of the data that I’ve read that the best environment for a child to grow up to be fully capable of achieving the American dream and having the best start at life in an intact two-parent family made up of a man and a woman. I would say that that’s what all the data would suggest…An intact two-parent family is in fact the best for our country. Should be the model, but when it doesn’t work we have safety nets.

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Gay adoption ban survives in Va. Senate

WAVY.com, February 17, 2012

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – With little debate, a Senate committee has endorsed a House-passed bill allowing private child placement agencies to deny adoptions for gays or others who offend their religious or moral teaching.

The measure heads to the Senate floor after an 8-7 party-line vote Friday in the Republican-dominated Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee. The Senate has already approved a similar bill and sent it to the House.

Mindful of the earlier defeats and the inevitability of the same outcome, committee Democrats largely held their fire except for Sen. Mark Herring.

He told the bill’s patron, Del. Todd Gilbert, that it was a bad bill full of harmful consequences, both intended and unintended.

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Virginia: Bill Allowing Adoption Restrictions Advances

February 10, 2012
New York Times
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The State Senate passed legislation on Thursday allowing private adoption agencies to deny placements that conflict with their religious or moral beliefs, including opposition to homosexuality. The mostly party-line vote virtually ensures the Republican-backed bill will become law. The House has an identical bill, and Gov. Robert F. McDonnell says he will sign it. Virginia would become the second state with such a law, which supporters modeled after North Dakota’s. Senator Jeffrey L. McWaters said his bill protected the religious rights of private child placement agencies, including dozens that contract with the state. Opponents say agencies that contract with the state should not be allowed to discriminate. Senator Adam Ebbin, the only openly gay member of the General Assembly, said the bill would endanger gay and bisexual children by letting agencies place them with parents opposed to homosexuality.

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Proposed bill would allow same-sex, live-in couples to adopt in Utah

Aaron Vaughn, Web Producer

FOX 13 News

11:24 a.m. MST, January 25, 2012

SALT LAKE CITY—
If passed, Sen. Ross Romero’s Adoption by a Co-parent Bill would allow gay couples, or any unmarried couple living together, to adopt.

“Some people may not want to marry or some people may not be able to marry, so this could apply with equal force if they were sisters,” says Romero, giving a hypothetical example. “One sister moved in with another sister and one of the sisters from a previous marriage had a child. They could not legally marry.”

The two could legally be parents to the same child if the bill passes. However, it may be a tough sell to the Utah Legislature given that the bill failed last session.

“I think it would be impossible of me to assume the intentions of the legislators who determine the fate of a bill like this one,” says Executive Director of Equality Utah Brandie Balken.
Balkan says the bill would have substantial impact on the state’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual community by allowing them to adopt. But Romero says the bill is more than just about LGBT rights, but about parental rights, gay or straight.

“What this bill says is ‘I know what is best for my child and it will be judged on what’s in the best interest of the child,'” Romero explains.

Romero says the parent could be able to designate a co-parent to raise the child, whether that person is a sister, brother, or significant other.

Although Romero is not convinced it will pass this year, he says it is important to keep the dialog going and believes one day it will pass.

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Virginia To Consider Opposing Gay Adoption Bills

By On Top Magazine Staff
Published: January 22, 2012
Virginia lawmakers are set to consider opposing gay adoption bills, the AP reported.

Democratic Senator Adam Ebbin is the sponsor of a bill that would bar the state from funding adoption agencies which discriminate against foster or adoptive parents based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

“One major issue is whether charities that receive tax dollars should be able to discriminate,” Ebbin said. “Adoption is a public act that goes through state courts, and no government agent should engage in discrimination.”

Ebbin’s proposed measure would reinstate protections removed last month by the Virginia Board of Social Services. The board’s new regulations, which strip out protections against discrimination based on gender, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation and family status, take effect May 1.

A competing bill, however, would reinforce the board’s move.

Senator Jeffrey McWaters and Delegate Todd Gilbert’s proposal would allow adoption agencies to discriminate against prospective foster or adoptive parents who are gay, if doing so is supported by the organization’s religious beliefs.

“We just want to ensure that people can continue to abide by their religious beliefs and continue to provide services consistent with those beliefs,” said Gilbert, a Republican from Woodstock.

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I.R.S. Denying Lesbians Legitimate Adoption Credit

New York Times
December 13, 2011
By TARA SIEGEL BERNARD

Since the federal government does not recognize same-sex marriage, such couples are viewed as strangers in many spheres of their financial lives. They need to file separate federal tax returns, for instance. And sometimes, that can come with certain advantages.

Take the adoption tax credit. If you adopt your spouse’s child, you cannot claim the credit. But since same-sex married couples are not considered spouses under federal law, they are permitted to use the credit — at least until their unions are recognized.

So when several lesbians seeking to adopt a partner’s child received letters from the Internal Revenue Service that said they could not use the credit, they couldn’t help but wonder: Is the government choosing to recognize our unions only when it’s to the government’s benefit?

As it turns out, the I.R.S. keeps close tabs on many refundable credits: The adoption credit is refundable in 2010 and 2011, which means that the credit reduces the amount of tax you owe, dollar for dollar. And if the amount of the credit exceeds your tax bill, you get to collect that extra cash. Because it’s such an enticing break, it’s also ripe for abuse.

As a result, the I.R.S. conducted more audits by mail last year, and required many couples — gay and heterosexual — to provide more documentation. (In fact, 68 percent of the nearly 100,000 returns on which taxpayers claimed the adoption credit were audited by mail, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office, which reviewed the I.R.S.’s strategy to ensure taxpayers were rightfully claiming the credit.)

But at least two of the reasons that the I.R.S. gave to the lesbians who it turned down were not rooted in the law, according to Patricia Cain, a professor at Santa Clara Law and an expert on sexuality and federal tax law, who blogged about the topic and has assisted some couples who were denied.

The most common explanation for the denial, she said, was that the birth mother did not terminate her rights as part of the adoption. And while it’s typical for many birth mothers to do so when her child is being adopted, that’s obviously not something a lesbian birth mom would do when her partner is simply performing a “second parent” adoption. Nor is there anything in the tax code that requires the termination of parental rights, Professor Cain said.

Another reason the I.R.S. provided for the denials: the adoptive mother is the domestic partner of the birth mother. But again, she said there is nothing in the tax code that says domestic partners cannot claim the credit. “Nobody thinks the adoption credit was created to help lesbian mothers,” Professor Cain said. “But they are certainly entitled to it as long as the clear meaning of the statute grants it to them.”

The report from the Government Accountability Office said that the I.R.S. didn’t adequately inform its tax examiners regarding certain aspects of the adoption credit. So you can argue that the I.R.S. probably didn’t give them specific instructions on how to handle adoptions with same-sex parents either. A spokesman for the I.R.S. said that they were aware of an isolated number of cases where they made a mistake, and that they corrected the errors after they were notified by the taxpayers. In a statement, the agency said that it regrets the inconvenience and that it has provided more training to the examiners on this issue.

The credit, which is for as much as $13,360 in 2011, can only be used once. So if two men, two women, or two other unmarried people adopt a nonbiological child, only one adoptive parent can claim the entire credit or they can split it.

If you or your partner receive any notices from the I.R.S. requiring more information during this coming tax season, send your response to the I.R.S. within the time period allotted. “Most taxpayers, after pushing back hard, have had the credit allowed,” Professor Cain added.

That is the result that Beth Jennings is hoping for. She said that her partner, Coleen Jennings, adopted her biological daughter, Hazel, in 2010, four months after she was born. A couple of months after filing her return, she received a letter from the I.R.S. stating that the adoption credit was under investigation.

After sending more documentation, her partner was denied the credit, a decision they are now appealing. And when they called the I.R.S., Ms. Jennings said the agent seemed confused about the reason for the denial, even though they provided all the required paperwork and went as far as having their lawyer sign an affadavit. “There is probably a place in the flow chart for the guy answering the phone, and it probably stopped or didn’t include this scenario,” Ms. Jennings said, referring to instructions on how to assist same-sex couples.

The I.R.S. said that any taxpayers who feel that they were improperly denied the credit should contact the I.R.S. And if you need more assistance, you can also contact advocacy organizations like the National Center for Lesbian Rights, which may be able to provide more guidance.

Have you or your partner (or spouse) encountered any problems with claiming this credit? If so, let us know in the comment section if and how you were able to resolve the issue.

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How Many San Francisco High Schoolers Have Gay Parents?

By Lauren Smiley Mon., Oct. 17 2011

SFWeekly.com

Some social conservatives have bizarrely charged that making LGBT history a part of the state-mandated curriculum is just a veiled lesson on how to be gay. But for a small percentage of San Francisco kids, that classroom instruction won’t just be history lessons about a marginalized minority group — that coursework will help them define their own families.

Four percent of students in San Francisco’s public high schools say they have LGBT parents, according to preliminary results of a district-wide survey given to ninth and 11th graders last spring, as SF Weekly has learned. Additionally, two percent of seventh graders said that are living in LGBT households, says Kevin Gogin, the San Francisco Unified School District’s head of LGBT support services.

That comes out to about 800 families total. “We were the first district nationally to ask the question,” Gogin told us. The data was part of a larger survey given to high schoolers last spring about LGBT bullying. All the statistics will be released in a month.

San Francisco schools, perhaps surprisingly, have a long way to go on cutting out LGBT bullying, as we wrote about in a cover story last year. The results from surveys given in 2007 and 2009 showed LGBT students had a much higher rate of suicidal thoughts than their straight peers, and students often heard gay slurs at their schools.

The data on LGBT families was announced last Thursday night as the school district had its first-ever dinner for the district’s LGBT families at Alvarado Elementary School, where roughly 200 people attended.

“There’s only one other district that does this in the country, and we beat them in the first year,” Gogin says. “We were overwhelmed with the positive outpouring from the community.”

Now the data has the district curious about how many elementary school kids are living in LGBT households. When the district revamps the questionnaire in two years, they’ll be asking the city’s youngsters, too.

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Gay Marriage Foe NOM Pours Water On Jared Polis Birth Announcement

By On Top Magazine Staff
Published: October 03, 2011

The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) on Monday criticized Colorado Rep. Jared Polis’ announcement of his son Caspian Julius.

On Friday, Polis and his domestic partner, writer Marlon Reis, announced the birth of Caspian, making Polis, who is serving his second term in office, the first openly gay parent in Congress.

“Baby and parents are doing well, [and] baby has learned to cry already!” Polis and Reis said in an emailed birth announcement. “No gifts please, just nice thoughts for Caspian, humankind, the planet, and the universe!”

Caspian Julius weighed in at 8 pounds, 12 ounces.

“We have no clue whether it was a planned motherless family or whether he and his partner stepped in to give a motherless child a family – since he will not say,” NOM wrote in a blog post titled Rep. Jared Polis Announces With Pride His Child Has No Mother.

“But he and his partner are proud to announce they were both ‘very excited to become new parents.’”

What Polis has not discussed is whether the child was adopted or conceived through a surrogate pregnancy.

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