Justice Kevin G. Young of New York Supreme Court, Onondaga County (Syracuse), issued a decision on October 21 dissolving a civil union that had been contracted in Vermont in 2004 by Heidi Marie Parker and Mindy Tamara Waronker.  Parker v. Waronker, No. 2010-M-0517.  In default of any New York substantive law about civil unions, Justice Young referred to Vermont law to determine whether grounds for dissolution of the civil union had been met and, due … <Read More>

On October 29 the Vermont Supreme Court issued its ruling unanimously affirming the decision by Rutland Family Court Judge William D. Cohen that it is in the best interest of minor child IMJ to be in the sole physical and legal custody of Janet Miller-Jenkins rather than Lisa Miller-Jenkins, her birth mother and Janet's former civil union partner.  It is uncertain what this will mean in the real world, as Lisa and the child have disappeared … <Read More>

The temporary stay that the three-judge motion panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit issued in Log Cabin Republicans v. United States will remain in place pending the 9th Circuit's decision of the appeal, by a 2-1 vote of the court's motion panel released today.  Judges O'Scannlain and Trott voted to continue the stay in full.  Dissenting (in part), Judge Fletcher favored allowing District Judge Phillips's order to go into effect … <Read More>

A unanimous 8-member chamber of the European Court of Human Rights ruled on October 21 that the Russian government violated the European Convention on Human Rights when the Moscow city government denied permission for four consecutive years for the holding of a gay rights parade and demonstration in that city. Ruling on three applications to the court filed by Nicolas Alekseyev, the leader of the Russian gay rights group in Moscow, the court found violations of … <Read More>

This has been a very busy day on the gay rights legal front, with three major developments in important pending cases:

1 – DADT.  Judge Virginia Phillips issued her final order in the pending challenge to the U.S. military don't ask, don't tell policy, under which gay people can only serve in the uniformed Armed Forces if they pretend that they are not gay by breathing not a word about being gay, doing nothing that … <Read More>