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Gay Groups Cheer RulingBy Pam Regensberg, Staff Writer, Boulder Daily Camera, September 8, 2000 Seven lesbian couples can keep both of their names on their children's birth certificates, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled this week. The high court's precedent-setting ruling means the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment appears to have exhausted all of its legal avenues in challenging a Boulder District Court's 1999 ruling that granted lesbian couples full parental rights. The Supreme Court ruling Tuesday was applauded by gay-rights advocates. "It confirms that it is the quality of the love and the family that is important and not the form," said Boulder attorney Barbara Lavender, who represents several lesbian couples. Lavender said the decision is significant because it offers children of these same-sex couples the same rights as those of heterosexual couples. "This is a victory for parents' rights," said Michael Brewer, legal director of Colorado Legal Initiatives Project, a civil-rights advocacy group for homosexuals and people living with HIV. "It strengthens parenting in Colorado." The Supreme Court ruling arose out of a 1999 decision by Boulder Chief District Judge Roxanne Bailin and Judge Morris Sandstead. Both judges allowed both partners of seven lesbian couples to be listed as the mothers on birth certificates. In one case, Bailin made her ruling in an unchallenged petition that involved two women identified only as Anne G. and Jane K. Anne G. was impregnated by sperm from an anonymous donor and gave birth late last year. The cases are sealed because they involve juveniles. Nevertheless, Bailin said Colorado law allows people. who have no biological connection to a child to assume parental rights in certain circumstances. The judges applied the 1970s Uniform Parentage Act in making. their decisions. "What the District Court in Boulder has done was creatively apply it," said Cynthia Hossinger, the director of the Office of Legal and Regulatory Affairs for the state Department of Public Health and Environment. Hossinger said the act was adopted as a mechanism to establish paternity, which allows single mothers access to child support. Hossinger said the state learned of Bailin's and Sandstead's decision when a hospital employee called to say two women want to be listed as the mothers on the birth certificates. The computer program used by hospitals apparently asks for a mother and a father. "There's no precedent to support it The court was doing something brand new," Hossinger said, adding that state officials plan to discuss the ruling and possible options. Meanwhile, gay-rights advocates said they are preparing for a political battle they expect to heat up during the next legislative session. "Some of the same people who banned same-sex marriage will attack our families," said Lori Girvan, executive director of Equality Colorado, an advocacy group for gays and lesbians. Girvan said she expects some legislators to use the "two mommies cases" to launch another effort to deny gays and lesbians rights. "We'll be ready," she said. Barbara Lavender, PC © 2005 by Barbara Lavender, PC |
