LGBTLAW.COM


Providing information on LGBT legal issues



Helping you understand this rapidly changing area of law

 LGBT News...

GLAD is challenging DOMA again. This time in U.S. District Court in Connecticut. Representing 5 lesbian and gay couples and one widower, GLAD seeks to achieve another victory against DOMA in federal court.

The U.S. government is appealing the decision in GLAD's earlier case, Gill v. O.P.M.. In that case, the District Court ruled that DOMA violates the U.S. Constitution.

The government is also appealing the decision in Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. United States Department of Health and Human Services, et.al.

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The U.S. District Court in California's ruled against Proposition 8. The state of California is NOT appealing the decision. However, the proponents of Prop 8 have filed an appeal with the 9th District Court of Appeals. The question now is whether they have standing to appeal the decision. The Court of Appeals has put the case on a fast-track and oral arguments are scheduled for December 2010.


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Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and Iowa allow lesbian and gay couples to marry. There are 18,000 legally recognized lesbian and gay marriages in California. New York and Maryland will recognize lesbian and gay marriages from the five states mentioned...even though you cannot get married in either of those states.


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Three of the Iowa Supreme Court justices who decided the Iowa marriage equality case were defeated in the November election. The Democrats still hold the majority in the Iowa State Senate, so there is little hope for a ballot referendum on the issue of marriage equality in Iowa. A second DOMA case has been filed in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York. The case, Windsor v. United States, is challenging DOMA. The plaintiff is the sole heir of her deceased spouse. The couple, together for 44 years, married in Canada in 2007. Because of DOMA, the surviving spouse, Edith Windsor, was required to pay $350,000 in federal inheritance tax.


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Find information here on legal issues affecting the LGBT community. Send me an email if you have information about pending court cases or issues in your state.

Email: lgbtlaw@mac.com







Joan M. Burda is the Award-winning author of: Estate Planning for Same-Sex Couples (ABA 2004)

Her latest book is:
Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Clients: A Lawyer's Guide (ABA 2008)

 



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