Newly-elected Judge Sonya L. Heath of the 310th District Court of Harris County dismissed the Pidgeon case last week after ruling on competing final motions for summary judgment by either party. In 2013, the Houston Mayor directed that the City provide employee benefits to spouses in same-sex marriages, the same as spouses in heterosexual marriages. … Continue Reading
The American Bar Association’s Standing committee on Ethics released a formal opinion last week on guidance for judges performing same-sex marriage: In wake of landmark decision, ABA issues guidance for judges performing same-sex marriages. Their guidance interprets the Model Code of Judicial Conduct. The Formal Opinion 485 incorporates procedures and policies developed for judges in … Continue Reading
Love is for everybody. It’s a nice thought. But sort through the greeting cards at literally any store and the chances of finding something queer-themed, or even remotely non-heterosexual, is going to be low, low, low. It doesn’t feel nice to be left out. So, here’s a website with download-and-print Valentine’s Day cards, classic e-Card style. … Continue Reading
Suzan and Kimberly McLaughlin, a married lesbian couple, conceived a child using artificial insemination with an anonymous donor in 2011. When the parties later separated in 2013, Kimberly began restricting Suzan’s access to the child. Suzan filed a lawsuit seeking to be recognized as a parent that same year. In April 2016, the trial court … Continue Reading
So, can a lesbian couple adopt a refugee kid through Catholic Charities of Fort Worth? Funny you should ask. When Fatma Marouf and Bryn Esplin, both attorneys and professors at Texas A&M University, learned that there were as many as 300,000 homeless or unaccompanied refugee children worldwide, they decided to adopt or foster one. They … Continue Reading
The United Nations ruled in August that an Australian law that prohibits divorce between same-sex couples validly married from another country to divorce violates international human rights obligations. The case was taken to the UN by Fiona Kumari Campbell, who married her ex-partner in Canada in 2004, before the couple separated later that year. Dr … Continue Reading
Forget about all the other nonsense, let’s celebrate that an LGBT film won best picture at the Academy Awards! Moonlight presents the life of the main character Chiron and the struggles he faces with his own sexuality as well as the physical abuse that he receives as a result of it. The movie begins in … Continue Reading
Houston attorney Jim Evans was appointed 507th Family Court associate judge on January 1,2017, making him the first openly gay man to serve as a judge in family court in Texas. “There are openly LGBT judges in the criminal and civil courts,” Evans says. “But this is a first for Texas.” In fact, he is … Continue Reading
Gallup did a survey in 2016 which shows that more than 10 million American adults now identify as LGBT, making 4.1% of the population LGBT in 2016. That’s up from 3/5% in 2015. Millennials, who are viewed as more open-minded and accepting of different lifestyles, are to be credited for the increase. Millennials, born between … Continue Reading
Texas is making international news again – this time for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s newly filed bathroom bill seeking to require people to use the bathroom according to the gender on their birth certificate. The Lt. Gov. renamed it as the “Women’s Privacy Act”. He went on to lay out his argument for it: “Transgender … Continue Reading
Wilshire Baptist Church, located on Abrams Road just north of Mockingbird Lane in Dallas, voted November 14, 2016 to include gay and lesbians for full membership, including rights to serve in leadership positions and marry in the church. The measure passed with a vote of 61% of the membership in favor of inclusion. As soon … Continue Reading
Tuesday October 11th is LGBT National Coming Out Day. On October 11, 1987, half a million people participated in the March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. The idea of a national day to celebrate coming out came on October 11, 1987 when a half million people participated in a march on Washington D.C. … Continue Reading
This week, Texas Supreme Court denied review, upholding a lower court’s ruling that cities cannot deprive married same-sex LGBT couples the benefits it provides to opposite-sex couples. However, Justice John P. Devine filed a dissenting opinion to the denial of review. Read the dissenting opinion here Pidgeon v. Turner. Justice Devine disagreed with the denial … Continue Reading
Michelle O’Neil and Michael D. Wysocki, Shareholders of O’Neil Wysocki, P.C., have been named to the 2016 Texas Super Lawyers List for family law. Only 5% of lawyers statewide are recognized. O’Neil was also named as one of the Top 50 Women Super Lawyers in Texas for all practice areas, Top 100 Texas Super Lawyers … Continue Reading
It has been a year since the US Supreme Court legalized same sex marriage across the country. At the time, many people, gay and straight, thought the gay community had “arrived” in acceptance. Is that necessarily true for gay parents in our Texas family law courts? This weekend, during LGBTQ pride month, an awful person … Continue Reading
2015 was a banner year for LGBT rights in America. Of course, legalization of same-sex marriage (now just known as Marriage) was the biggest victory. But Caitlyn Jenner was a hot topic. And there were some smaller victories in anti-discrimination laws. Here’s a rundown of the big events for LGBT rights in the US in 2015, … Continue Reading
I was fortunate to be asked to participate in the conversation on marriage equality leading up to and on June 26, 2015, the historic day when SCOTUS issued its Obergefell decision extending marriage equality to all and recognizing LGBT rights under the US Constitution. Here’s a run down of my media appearances leading up to … Continue Reading
Following up on my commentary on the decision, I had the opportunity to discuss the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on same-sex marriage with Colin O’Keefe of LXBN. In the interview, I discuss the implications of the decision going forward and how it’s playing out here in Texas.… Continue Reading
Today marks the official launch day for my new family law blog focusing on LGBT issues in Texas. This month we expect a ruling from the Supreme Court of the United States in the Obergefell case, which will, one way or another, be a landmark decision in the history of gay rights in America. Whatever … Continue Reading