Story at a glance
- A federal court struck down an Indiana law that refused to acknowledge same-sex spouses on birth certificates.
- The Supreme Court denied a petition to appeal the decision made by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
- LGBTQ+ advocates and same-sex couples are celebrating the decision.
Indiana will be required to recognize both spouses in same-sex unions as parents of their children on birth certificates after the Supreme Court denied a petition to appeal a lower court decision.
READ MORE LIKE THIS FROM CHANGING AMERICA
IDAHO’S CONTROVERSIAL NEW TRANS RIGHTS BILLS FACE LEGAL CHALLENGES
SOUTH CAROLINA COURT STRIKES DOWN LAW BANNING LGTBQ+ SEX ED
GAY CONVERSION THERAPY OFFICIALLY BANNED IN VIRGINIA
“It’s a major victory that is going to keep the same-sex families together and the children born to these marriages will have two parents to love and protect them,” Karen Celestino-Horseman, the attorney for the plaintiffs, told The Indianapolis Star.
Ashlee and Ruby Henderson, a same-sex couple from Lafayette, Ind., are those two parents for their child, conceived through artificial insemination. After county officials refused to list both of them as parents on the birth certificate, the Hendersons and several other couples won both the initial lawsuit, granting a permanent injunction enforcing the decision, as well as an appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
America is changing faster than ever! Add Changing America to your Facebook or Twitter feed to stay on top of the news.
But the state petitioned the Supreme Court, saying that the decision required them “either to require genetic testing of all new parents or else abandon the biological foundation for allocating parental rights altogether—as happens when both a birth mother and her wife are ‘presumed’ to be parents.” The Supreme Court, in denying the petition, has determined that will be the case.
LGBTQ+ advocates, including GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis, praised the decision upholding the rights of same-sex couples.
The Obergefell decision on marriage equality is law of the land and was intended to protect children of LGBTQ people from unequal treatment.
— Sarah Kate Ellis (@sarahkateellis) December 14, 2020
Indiana Solicitor General Tom Fisher told the Indianapolis Star, “We are disappointed the Court declined to take up the case.”
READ MORE LGBTQ+ STORIES FROM CHANGING AMERICA
A ‘RAINBOW WAVE’ OF OPENLY QUEER AND TRANSGENDER CANDIDATES JUST MADE POLITICAL HISTORY
NEW YORK DEMOCRATS BECOME FIRST OPENLY GAY BLACK MEN ELECTED TO CONGRESS
SARAH MCBRIDE BECOMES FIRST TRANSGENDER STATE SENATOR IN U.S. HISTORY
TAYLOR SMALL BECOMES VERMONT’S FIRST TRANSGENDER LEGISLATOR
