Same-sex couples changing landscape of family law
Dennis Lewis
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-02-17-cover-samesex_x.htm
Excerpts:
... Gay and lesbian couples increasingly are going to court, seeking
to adopt children, acquire rights as parents, take on shared last
names and secure a range of benefits similar to those enjoyed by
heterosexual couples. ... Many judges are saying sexual orientation
shouldn't matter in deciding what makes a family. A few conservative
groups are fighting the tide, without much success. ...
"People are recognizing that these non-traditional families are here
to stay, and courts are finding ways to support the children," says
Susan Becker, professor at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at
Cleveland State University. ...
"I think you're going to see a backlash soon," says Robert Knight,
director of the Culture and Family Institute at Concerned Women for
America, a Washington, D.C., group that opposes rights for same-sex
couples. "Their movement is displacing marriage as the gold standard
in family law."
But Duke University law dean Katharine Bartlett says judges have
struggled with nontraditional families since divorce rates jumped
three decades ago. "Courts aren't trying to contribute to the demise
of traditional families. But they recognize the reality of families
today and 'functional' parents." ...
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The print article is accompanied by a chart showing states with the
highest percentage of same-sex households. The chart doesn't include
some states one might expect to be on the list -- Florida, Minnesota,
Connecticut, Georgia -- while it does have a couple of surprises: New
Mexico and Maine.
(I can't fathom why New Mexico has attracted so many same-sex couples,
though I imagine many of them have settled in Santa Fe and Taos. I
will admit that New Mexico truly is a "land of enchantment" -- I fell
in love with Cimarron and Raton the weekend I stayed at the haunted
St. James Hotel, though New Mexico is no doubt more palatable during
the summer than during a winter blizzard. And the main church in
Cimarron appeared to be Southern Baptist. And Cimarron's main
supermarket doubled as the town's main gas station/convenience store.)
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USA TODAY chart:
Where Same-Sex Couples Live
(Top states and D.C.)
District of Columbia
Total Households: 248,338
Same-Sex, Unmarried Partner Households: 3,678
Percent of Same-Sex Households: 1.5
Vermont
Total Households: 240,634
Same-Sex, Unmarried Partner Households: 1,933
Percent of Same-Sex Households: 0.8
California
Total Households: 11,502,870
Same-Sex, Unmarried Partner Households: 92,138
Percent of Same-Sex Households: 0.8
Washington
Total Households: 2,271,398
Same-Sex, Unmarried Partner Households: 15,900
Percent of Same-Sex Households: 0.7
Massachusetts
Total Households: 2,443,580
Same-Sex, Unmarried Partner Households: 17,099
Percent of Same-Sex Households: 0.7
Oregon
Total Households: 1,333,723
Same-Sex, Unmarried Partner Households: 8,932
Percent of Same-Sex Households: 0.7
New Mexico
Total Households: 677,971
Same-Sex, Unmarried Partner Households: 4,496
Percent of Same-Sex Households: 0.7
Nevada
Total Households: 751,165
Same-Sex, Unmarried Partner Households: 4,973
Percent of Same-Sex Households: 0.7
New York
Total Households: 7,056,860
Same-Sex, Unmarried Partner Households: 46,490
Percent of Same-Sex Households: 0.7
Maine
Total Households: 518,200
Same-Sex, Unmarried Partner Households: 3,394
Percent of Same-Sex Households: 0.7
Source: Census 2000