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Full-Text Articles in Law

Life After Doma, Mark Strasser Jul 2009

Life After Doma, Mark Strasser

Mark Strasser

During the 2008 presidential campaign, President Obama expressed his support for the repeal of one or both provisions of the Federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and, further, each of these provisions seems constitutionally vulnerable. Given the distinct possibility that DOMA’s days are numbered, the legal ramifications of its repeal or invalidation should be explored. This essay addresses what DOMA does, and what would happen were it no longer to exist. While the fears that allegedly prompted its passage in the first place would not be realized, the repeal or invalidation of one provision of DOMA will nonetheless have important …


Same-Sex Relationships And The Full Faith And Credit Clause: Reducing America To The Lowest Common Denominator, Rena M. Lindevaldsen Jan 2009

Same-Sex Relationships And The Full Faith And Credit Clause: Reducing America To The Lowest Common Denominator, Rena M. Lindevaldsen

Rena M Lindevaldsen

This Article examines the legal and policy implications that arise when a state that expressly prohibits recognition or enforcement of any rights arising from a same-sex relationship is confronted with a request to register and enforce a child custody order issued by another state that gives custody or visitation rights to a biological mother’s former same-sex partner. As more states confer marital rights to same-sex couples, this issue will occur with increasing frequency. The first reported case in the nation to address the issue, Miller-Jenkins v. Miller-Jenkins, has garnered attention from the national media, including a cover story in the …


Lgbt Elder Law: Toward Equity In Aging, Nancy J. Knauer Dec 2008

Lgbt Elder Law: Toward Equity In Aging, Nancy J. Knauer

Nancy J. Knauer

At a time when LGBT individuals enjoy an unprecedented degree of social acceptance and legal protection, many LGBT elders face the daily challenges of aging isolated from family, detached from the larger LGBT community, and ignored by mainstream aging initiatives. The corrosive legacy of the pre-Stonewall views of homosexuality makes many LGBT elders reluctant to declare themselves and demand equal treatment from policy makers and health care providers. As a result, they are denied the basic dignity of being able to share their memories of a life well lived without fear of rejection and reprisal. The concerns of LGBT elders …