LGBT Legal Services
ACLU’s FAQs About NC’s New Guidelines Regarding Birth Certificates for Children of Married Same-Sex Couples
The ACLU has issued a new fact sheet regarding birth certificates for children of married same-sex couples. The fact sheet answers questions such as: If we get a birth certificate that lists both of us as parents, does that establish that we are legal parents? Do we still need to do a step-parent adoption or…
Read MoreGay Birth Certificates
With some encouragement from outside sources, The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has established new policies that will allow married lesbians who give birth to a child to be listed on the child’s birth certificate. This change in policy is consistent with Vital Record’s practice of allowing men who are married…
Read MoreSharon Thompson Presents on Emerging Issues in Estate Planning and Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART)
As a part of its on-going series of continuing legal education for lawyers, the Estate Planning Section of the North Carolina Bar Association presented “New Frontiers: Emerging Issues in Estate Planning” on April 28. The program was designed to inform estate planning attorneys about current challenges presented by today’s medical and digital technology and changing…
Read MoreMARRIAGE EQUALITY IN NORTH CAROLINA: Same-Sex Couples? What do the Recent Supreme Court Decisions Mean for North Carolina Gay Marriage?
On October 6, 2014, the Supreme Court denied review of seven Federal Circuit Court rulings (from the Tenth, Seventh, and Fourth Circuits) that held state bans on same-sex marriage violated the U.S. Constitution. In denying review, the Supreme Court has effectively allowed those favorable rulings to stand. On October 7, 2014, the Ninth Circuit also…
Read MoreThe Triangle celebrates as Virginia court issues a blow to Amendment One
Last week’s decision by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals essentially overturns North Carolina’s Amendment One, the Defense of Marriage Act. In fact, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper, a long time personal opponent of Amendment One, forced by North Carolina state law to defend the act, anyway said that in light of the Fourth…
Read MoreMarch Madness
March Madness is upon us but it’s not basketball that’s drawing our attention at NicholsonPham. Instead, we’re concerned about the craziness of tax season. With 17 states, and the District of Columbia and Canada allowing marriage equality, an increasing number of gay couples are tying the knot. And now that the United States Supreme Court…
Read MoreNicholsonPham Participates in Documentary
NicholsonPham’s Sharon Thompson recently contributed to “Unconditional,” a documentary film addressing equal rights for all families that explores the often devastating impact of current parenting laws on local North Carolina families. In the documentary film, “Unconditional”, Co-Directors Rhonda Chan Soo, Kelly McKenna, and Hanna Teachey document first-hand the traumatic impact of current parenting laws on…
Read MoreThe Undocumented Citizen
A few months ago, I attended a gathering of attorneys active in the LGBT community. Across dinner and after libations, the talk turned, as it often does, to work – discussions of our cases and the thorny problems that often await the lawyer serving the LGBT community. A colleague began to recount the history of…
Read MoreShould We Get Married?
Now that the Supreme Court has decided Windsor and ordered that the Federal government recognize the marriages of gay and lesbian couples when granted by a state, I have been receiving a smattering of questions about marriage. Specifically, same-sex couples want to know, “Should we get married?” My answer is a definitive maybe. Your answer,…
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