Iowa mothers win shared birth certificate
Melissa and Heather Gartner, a married couple from Iowa, won a lawsuit Wednesday allowing them to list both their names on their two-year-old daughter Mackenzie’s birth certificate. Lambda Legal helped the women in the lawsuit, drawing on Varnum v. Brien, the case establishing marriage equality in Iowa.
Here’s the Advocate’s rundown of what happened:
Although the women were married under Iowa law before the child was born in November 2009, the state agency had refused to list both their names on the birth certificate, arguing that Melissa is not Mackenzie’s genetic parent.
Judge Ovrom stopped short in her ruling of declaring a constitutional right for same-sex couples to be automatically named as parents on birth certificates, but she said that state administrators are bound to interpret law in light of the 2009 marriage equality decision from the high court.Unquestionably the right decision. Congratulations to a beautiful, deserving family.
Source: gaywrites
Transgender activists lobby for NYC birth certificate change
Some transgender people say New York City is making it too difficult for them to change their birth certificates to reflect the people they have become.
Three said at a news(…)
