Sunday, January 13, 2008

NY isn't so bad

I am lucky. Homestead Mama and I are in the midst of second-parent adoptions of each of our children. While this will cost us $2000+ for each child (for a right that I believe should inherently be ours) we are lucky that we should encounter little difficulty in each becoming the legal parent of our non-biological child. My lesbian friends in Massachusetts, even though legally allowed to marry in their state, are still advised to go through the invasive and expensive second-parent adoption process with any children they have after marriage in case they encounter difficulty while traveling in other states or countries. As awful as it would be to have a legal-in-Massachusetts marriage/parentage not recognized in other countries, I can understand that countries vary their laws. It boggles my mind that other states could choose to disregard Massachusetts laws about parenthood. Not allowing your own residents to do something is one thing; completely disregarding another state's rights is another.

Chicory, another lesbian blogger, is not so lucky. Utah is a state I won't even drive through, let alone live in, for its homophobic laws. Here is a draft of a letter to her representative about her situation. Makes my heart cry even as my blood is boiling. I wish her the best of luck, and will continue to vote in ways that will do the most good.

1 comment:

Larchitect said...

Isn't outrageous how much it costs to be gay/lesbian?? Never mind the discrimination, etc.

Margot