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Time For A Change: 20 Years After The "Working Group" Principles, Barbara Cox

Barbara Cox

This article discusses three aspects of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Section on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity’s history. First, it reviews the section’s activities at the 1992 AALS Annual Meeting. Second, it discusses how the AALS implemented its Bylaw and Executive Committee Regulations that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation (and now gender identity after a recent revision). Finally, it encourages the AALS to discontinue use of some of the guidelines adopted in the early 1990s to guide its interactions with religiously affiliated law schools when conflicts arise concerning allegations of sexual orientation or gender …

Choosing One's Family: Can The Legal System Address The Breadth Of Women's Choices Of Intimate Relationships, Barbara Cox

Barbara Cox

In discussing the legal system's response to alternative families seeking an extension of traditional family benefits, this paper is divided into two main sections. The first section summarizes the Madison experience in trying to pass a comprehensive alternative family rights ordinance. It takes an in-depth look at the entire process from the grassroots pressures on the M.E.O.C. which resulted in formation of the task force to the Common Council's enactment of two minor sections of the proposed ordinance. It will analyze the political and legal process used in an effort to obtain significant reform in the definition of family within …

Adoptions By Lesbian And Gay Parents Must Be Recognized By Sister States Under The Full Faith And Credit Clause Despite Anti-Marriage Statutes That Discriminate Against Same-Sex Couples, Barbara Cox

Barbara Cox

No abstract provided.

Alternative Families: Obtaining Traditional Family Benefits Through Litigation, Legislation And Collective Bargaining, Barbara Cox

Barbara Cox

This article will first discuss the constitutional and equitable basis for extending rights to alternative families. Next, it will discuss each major protection and benefit granted to traditional families and then examine the litigation, legislation, and collective bargaining agreements obtaining or attempting to obtain the same benefit for alternative families. This article will end by arguing that equity and justice require an extension of these benefits to alternative families.

Same-Sex Marriage And Choice Of Law: If We Marry In Hawaii, Are We Still Married When We Get Home?, Barbara Cox

Barbara Cox

This Article explores the choice-of-law question of whether a same-sex couple, married in Hawaii after successful completion of the Baehr v. Lewin case, will have their marriage recognized by the state of their domicile upon their return from Hawaii. This Article first applauds the Baehr court's decision that prohibiting same-sex marriage is unconstitutional sex discrimination but then critiques its decision that the fundamental right to marry does not extend to same-sex couples.

The second Part considers the choice-of-law questions that will arise in cases litigating the validity of a couple's same-sex marriage upon their return to their domicile. It considers …

Coalescing Communities, Discourses And Practices: Synergies In The Anti-Subordination Project, Barbara Cox

Barbara Cox

No abstract provided.

“The Little Project:” From Alternative Families To Domestic Partnerships To Same-Sex Marriage, Barbara Cox

Barbara Cox

No abstract provided.

Marriage Equality Is Both Feminist And Progressive, Barbara Cox

Barbara Cox

Marriage equality has the ability to lessen vulnerability for society’s most needy. This article discusses two aspects of marriage equality in particular. Part II discusses why marriage equality can be feminist in practice and why obtaining marriage equality for same-sex couples will advance feminist values within marriage. Part III discusses how marriage equality can be progressive and help those who are vulnerable in our society by providing numerous rights that are otherwise unavailable or expensive to replicate. While marriage equality cannot bring an end to the many problems caused by marriage’s privileged status in our society, it has the ability …

Why Appellate Courts Have Rejected The Argument That The Defense Of Marriage Act Trumps The Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act, Barbara Cox

Barbara Cox

The author seeks to explain why courts should not be permitted to interpret the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) to displace judgment recognition based on a forum state's public policy against legal relationships for same-sex couples. If courts interpret DOMA in this manner, nothing would prevent Congress from exempting other types of judgments from the protection of the Full Faith and Credit clause, thereby permitting relitigation of judgments that are now considered final and binding in every state.

“A Painful Process Of Waiting”: The New York, Washington, New Jersey, And Maryland Dissenting Justices Understand That “Same-Sex Marriage” Is Not What Same-Sex Couples Are Seeking, Barbara Cox

Barbara Cox

This essay focuses on the recent decisions by the highest courts of four states rejecting the claims of individuals in same-sex relationships that they must be permitted to marry the partner of their choice. In the cases of Hernandez v. Robles, Andersen v. King County, Lewis v. Harris, and Conaway v. Deane, a majority or plurality of each court determined that the bans preventing individuals in same-sex couples from marrying were constitutional. Understanding these cases is particularly important as additional state supreme courts address the cases of similar plaintiffs pending before them.