 to seek a constitutional amendment aimed at repealing the decision.
Other legal challenges to laws and policies prohibiting same-gender civil marriage are pending in courts in California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Washington.
State Perspective: Adoption
Two terms are used, often interchangeably, although they have different meanings, to describe the legal procedures by which same-gender couples adopt children. Coparent adoption is a legal process that allows both parents to adopt a child at the same time. Second-parent adoption is a process whereby the partner of the biological or primary adoptive parent is allowed to adopt at a later time.
Although gay and lesbian adults in many states have adopted children, county-level judges ultimately make final adoption decisions, and their opinions vary. Some judges have been open to second-parent public adoptions but not to agency-based adoptions.
Gay and lesbian parents have adopted children at least within certain counties of Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Coparent adoption is recognized by statute in California, Connecticut, and Vermont. Appellate courts have ruled that state adoption laws permit second-parent adoption in California, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The California decision was affirmed by the state supreme court.
Florida law explicitly prohibits adoption by gay and lesbian individuals and, by extension, same-gender couples.
Mississippi prohibits same-gender couples from adoption and second-parent adoption.
Oklahoma law prohibits the state, its agencies, and courts from recognizing an adoption by more than 1 individual of the same gender from any other state or foreign jurisdiction.
Utah forbids foster parenting and adoption by any unmarried cohabiting couple, thereby excluding all same-gender couples.
State court rulings in Colorado, Nebraska, Ohio, and Wisconsin have not permitted second-parent adoption by same-gender individuals.
Foster parenting by gay and lesbian individuals and/or same-gender couples is prohibited in at least 3 states: Arkansas, Nebraska, and Utah. In December 2004, an Arkansas court declared unconstitutional the state's regulation prohibiting gay and lesbian foster parenting. The decision is currently under appeal.
Although not expressly forbidden by statute or regulation, gay and lesbian individuals have been denied the ability to apply for foster parenting as a result of unwritten administrative policies of some state agencies. In February 2006, such a policy was overturned in Missouri by a state judge, thereby ordering the state to issue a foster parent license to individuals who pass the necessary requirements regardless of sexual orientation.
In early 2006, efforts were underway in at least 16 states (Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, and West Virginia) to introduce constitutional amendments prohibiting gay and lesbian individuals and couples from fostering or adopting children.
In 1996, the US Congress enacted the DOMA. The act prohibits federal recognition of same-gender civil marriage and allows states to do the same. As noted above, since 1996, many states have enacted related measures. States have traditionally recognized marriages granted in other states, even those that may not be in compliance with the marriage laws of that particular state, because of the “full faith and credit” clause‖ of the US Constitution. This clause is primarily intended to provide for the continuity between states and enforcement across state lines of nonfederal laws, civil claims, and court rulings.
Constitutional Amendment Proposals
Civil marriage has traditionally been viewed as a matter of state concern and regulation in the United State