Louisiana

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Louisiana Registrar of Vital Statistics must respect a New York adoption by a same-sex couple of a Louisiana-born baby boy.

The three-member panel voted unanimously to uphold a lower court ruling in favor of Lambda Legal clients Oren Adar and Mickey Ray Smith. Adar and Smith are a gay couple who adopted their Louisiana-born son in 2006 in New York, where a judge issued an adoption decree.

NOLA.com reports that Louisiana's Department of Vital Statistics can't be forced to provide a birth certificate listing two men as the parents of a Louisiana-born boy adopted by a gay couple in New York, a lawyer from the state attorney general's office said Wednesday before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

A few years ago, in a faraway place called Louisiana, a young Princess lived in a shining trailer. Although she had everything her heart desired, the princess was spoiled, selfish, and unkind.

One winter's night, an grumpy drunk lesbian from the bar came to the trailer and offered her a single rose in return for shelter from the bitter cold. Repulsed by her haggard appearance, the Princess sneered at the gift and turned the old woman away.

There's a movement in Louisiana that may help gay couples adopt children. The Louisiana Commission on Marriage and Family has been approached about adoption equality for gay couples.

The AP reports:

The idea, made in a presentation Thursday by the Forum for Equality Louisiana, was greeted with little enthusiasm from commission members in a state that has a constitutional ban on gay marriage.

The AP reports that Louisiana has 15 days to add the names of both fathers to the birth certificate of a boy born in Shreveport and adopted by a gay couple from out-of-state, a federal judge has ruled.

The state is asking the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the ruling by U.S. District Judge Jay Zainey, and to halt the order in the meantime, state Attorney General Buddy Caldwell said Thursday.

The Louisiana attorney general has asked a federal judge to reconsider his ruling that both fathers' names be added to the birth certificate of a boy born in Shreveport and adopted by a gay couple from out of state.

The AP reports that court papers filed Wednesday in New Orleans ask U.S. District Judge Jay Zainey to hold a full trial or ask the Louisiana Supreme Court to interpret the state law at the heart of the matter.

Lambda Legal reports that a U.S. District Court judge in Louisiana has ordered the state registrar to honor the New York adoption of a baby boy by a same-sex couple. The judge said failure to do so violated the U.S. Constitution.