Pet Trusts in Husky Country
Our pup, Daphne, is a fixture in Freed Marcroft’s office and has so many opinions of her own that she is even on Twitter at @thatlawyerdog. As a dog lover myself, I understand why one of our trust and estate clients’ common concerns is what will happen if they predecease their pets. Happily, in 2009, Connecticut […]
WNPR’s Colin McEnroe Show on the Psychology and Sociology of Coming Out
The good people of the Colin McEnroe Show on WNPR, including of course our dearest Chion Wolf, did an important show today on the psychology and sociology of coming out of the closet. Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra discusses what it is like to be an out gay man in politics, and Brian Murray, who currently […]
The Full Faith and Credit Clause and Same Sex Marriage: Why Aren’t States Required to Recognize Out of State Marriages?
So why aren’t states required to recognize marriages performed in other states?
Article 4, Section 1 of the United States Constitution reads:
Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings
We Are Family: New U.S. Custom’s Rule Liberalizes Declaration Process for Same Sex Couples and Their Families
It was a glorious vacation out of the country. Happy but tired from travel, you begin filling out a Customs Declaration for your family on the plane home to the United States . But wait, you wonder. Are we a family? In the Windsor decision, the United States Supreme Court held that restricting the federal interpretation […]
Transgender People and the Social Security Administration: Name and Gender Marker Change
Once a probate court has granted a transgender client’s petition for name change, a common next visit is to the Social Security Administration to change the name and gender marker in the Social Security Administration’s records.
To change your name on your Social Security card, you will need to submit an Application for a Social
Transgender People and Probate Court Name Change Petitions
When transgender clients call upon us to assist them with a name and/or gender marker change, it can often be a time of stress for them. People whose gender identity is inconsistent with the sex ascribed to them at birth understand intimately how societal expectations can shape people’s responses to how one expresses that gender identity.
As GLAD writes:
Nelson Mandela and Gay Rights: “The True Test of our Devotion to Freedom is Just Beginning.”
Today, the world mourns the loss of Nelson Mandela. My law school Sexual Orientation and the Law professor devoted time to the post-apartheid South African constitution — a document that has been heralded as the new international model and which would not exist but for Nelson Mandela’s leadership. The South African constitution includes the freedom from […]
Hartford and New Haven Score at the Top of 2013 Human Rights Campaign LGBT Municipal Equality Index
The Human Rights Campaign and Equality Federation have released their second annual national Municipal Equality Index, an evaluation of a “city’s laws and policies and an examination of how inclusive city services are of LGBT people.” Cities are rated on a scale of 0-100, based on the city’s laws, policies, benefits, and services. There are 100 […]
Mississippi Case Latest to Address Difficulties Same Sex Couples Can Have Attempting to Divorce
We have written about the difficulty married same sex couples can face in finding a court to grant a divorce when they live in a state that does not recognize their marriage. In addition to the Texas cases discussed previously, now Lauren Beth Czekala-Chatham has filed a divorce complaint in Mississippi chancery court, effectively asking “one […]
Connecticut High School Cancels School Production of Musical with Lesbian and Gay Themes
Trumbull High School in Trumbull, Connecticut has been in the news lately over the school principal, Marc Guarino’s “abrupt” decision to cancel the school’s Thespian Society’s production of the school edition of the musical Rent, which is “based loosely on Puccini’s La Boheme,” and follows a “year in the life of a group of impoverished young
