Parman v. State of Oregon
When I got the news Wednesday that BRO was filing this lawsuit, my heart started beating faster and tears welled up in my eyes. After many years in the movements for equal rights for LGBT people and women, I was a bit surprised to feel myself responding so emotionally to a press release. It takes a certain dogged determination to stand up for justice day after day, year in and year out. I imagine I'm not alone in developing a sort of armor against the fact of my second class status. I don't sit around and weep about it all day long - I carry my head high and move through the world as if I was afforded the same power and rights as the U.S. Constitution was designed to give me.But every now and then, the full force of the discrimination against us hits me. Like yesterday. What the plaintiffs K.D. and Jeana must have felt when Jeana's name was scratched off their son's birth certificate! Did the hospital administrator who crossed Jeana out have any idea how dehumanizing the stroke of that pen would be? You don't count, the message came across loud and clear.
I feel admiration for Jeana and K.D.'s courage to put themselves out there publicly for the betterment of all our lives. Some of my tears were tears of gratitude. I'm also grateful for an organization like BRO that continues to strategize and fight for LGBT rights, no matter the setbacks. Even though I no longer live in Oregon, I follow BRO's work because I'm convinced it will dramatically and positively impact the national LGBT rights movement.
The State of Oregon would do well to follow my new home state California in its family law pertaining to female couples. The following information is excerpted from the National Center for Lesbian Rights website:
"Starting January 1, 2005, when a lesbian couple who are registered domestic partners has a child through artificial insemination, both partners can be included on the child's original California birth certificate... Gay men who are using a surrogate, however, will need to obtain a court judgment of parentage before both partners can be included on the child's birth certificate, which is also true for a heterosexual married couple who uses a surrogate. Because surrogacy is a complicated area of law, we strongly advise couples who are considering using a surrogate to speak to an experienced attorney."
Written by Meg Daly
Meg is a freelance writer, newly transplanted to San Francisco. She is the former features editor at Just Out, Portland's queer newsmagazine. Her articles have appeared in national and regional press, including Tikkun, Grist online magazine, Punk Planet, Portland Monthly, Oregon Business, and Willamette Week. She is the editor of two anthologies on women's friendships, including Surface Tension: Love, Sex, and Politics Between Lesbians and Straight Women.Photo Credit: WillametteWeek.com
This entry was posted
on Friday, April 07, 2006 at 9:50 AM.
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ByI really don't get it. If someone had nothing to do with the birth of a child biologically, why should the be on a legal certificate as the child's parent?
Even in a "traditional" relationship, if the man in the picture isn't the biological father, he shouldn't be on the certificate.
By
Under the laws of most states, the person who is married to the child's mother at the time of birth is considered to be the parent of the child, without regard to whether he is biologically the parent. (They don't give new fathers DNA tests in the delivery room before they put their names on the birth certificate.)
The main purported state interest is to ensure that the child will be taken care of. Up until the last 20 years, the majority of women did not work outside of the home, and if they did, it was generally for low pay; therefore, it was necessary that there be a man who was legally obligated to provide for said child.
By
obviously, our laws and administrative procedures have not kept up with the changes in family relationships and families.
why doesn't Oregon simply change the certificate to include two sections. The first would list the biological parents (the source of the sperm and egg, to be blunt). The second would list the legal parents (who is going to care for and support the child).
These old, obsolete forms should evolve to acknowledge reality.
By
Good luck to both of you. Keep fighting. I hope Oregon can get some sense to do the right thing and get over it's prejudice thinking. Love and best wishes to you both.
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