A landmark ruling by the New York Court of Appeals on Tuesday has changed the state’s legal definition of parenthood in order to afford greater protection for LGBT families in New York’s justice system. The court’s judgement, written by Judge Sheila Abdus-Salaam and backed by four others, overturned a 1991 ruling that limited the definition of ‘parent’ to those individuals with clear biological or adoptive links to the child. Dismissing the 25-year-old definition as ‘needlessly narrow’, the court ruled that an individual may seek visitation or custody of a child if it is proven ‘by clear and convincing evidence that the parties agreed to conceive a child and raise the child together’, even when no biological or adoptive link is present.
Catching up with reality
The decision has been welcomed by LGBT activists, as New York was one of the largest and more liberal US states yet to broaden its definition of parenthood. ‘Finally, New York is bringing its law in line with the reality of thousands of children who need protection for their relationships,’ said Susan Sommer, an attorney for LGBT rights organisation Lambada Legal who was involved in the case. The state of Maryland recently broadened its own legal definition of parenthood, and a decision is pending in Massachusetts in a similar case involving how the state recognises parents.
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