Articles from the Constitution State
Parentage Act
A bill aimed at updating Connecticut law to recognize both parents of a same-sex couple as the legal parents of their children just passed from the state’s judiciary committee to a vote on the house floor.
Currently same-sex couples in Connecticut are required to go through the additional hurdle of second-parent adoption, while heterosexual couples need only sign an acknowledgment of parenthood. The Connecticut Parentage Act (5178; now HB6321), aims to fix this inequity.
“Connecticut is the only New England state without protections or paths to parentage for non-biological parents to establish their legal relationship with their children,” states the website of a Yale Law School legal clinic instrumental in moving the Act toward becoming law. “This means the legal relationship between many of the state’s LGBTQ parents and their children is insecure, which leaves children vulnerable.”
“The Connecticut Parentage Act solves the problems in our parentage law,” Professor Douglas NeJaime, the Anne Urowsky Professor of Law at Yale Law School, told Yale Law School Today. “It satisfies constitutional requirements. It reflects the diversity of families in our state. It protects children who are vulnerable under current law. It brings order to an area where there is uncertainty. It updates law that is outdated and it reflects best practices.”
Biden reversal on trans school athletes
The Biden administration withdrew federal support from a lawsuit filed by the families of three Connecticut high school girls to block transgender athletes from competing in high school girls’ sports.
The case drew national attention in 2020 as other states debated laws to restrict transgender athletes’ participation in school sports. The issue has also become a Republican talking point among those seeking to block the Equality Act from passing in the Senate.
Seventeen US states are considering such legislation, reports the AP, with Idaho and Mississippi having already passing theirs into law.
In Connecticut, the families of three high school track team runners filed a federal lawsuit in February 2020 to exclude transgender female athletes from participating in girls’ sports — despite a state law that requires all students to be treated according to the gender they identify with.
A month later, former US Attorney General Barr weighed in arguing against the state’s policy to follow this law. And in late May 2020 the US Dept. of Education’s civil rights office sent a 45-page letter to the state threatening to withhold federal funding unless Connecticut schools went against state law and barred transgender girls from participating in girls’ sports.
Last fall, at the start of the current school year, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong fired back at the Trump administration, stating, “Transgender girls are girls, full stop. The Office of the Attorney General will continue to defend every Connecticut resident, including our transgender residents, against discrimination, hate and bigotry.”
Reports the AP, “US Attorney for the District of Connecticut John Durham wrote that the Justice Department [has since] ‘reconsidered the matter.’”
Update: on April 25, a US federal judge dismissed the case. —RP
Showcasing local artists
The New Haven Pride Center has continued to allow a platform for local artists’ work to be showcased through their galleries, even amidst the pandemic and chaos of this past year. And they run “the only LGBTQ+ exclusive gallery series in Connecticut,” states their website.
This May, at New Haven’s Great Room Gallery, the exhibit “Higher Ground” features the work of artist Lena Fin. Meanwhile, the Chez Est gallery in Hartford is showing the photography of RahVisions at the Empty Seats exhibit. Ricky Mestre’s MestrePiece then shows at Chez Est in June, with Alecia Massaro’s work featured in a Great Room exhibit called “Feeling.”
In addition to these two galleries, the New Haven Pride Center also runs exhibits at the HCAI Community Art Space in Stratford.
Curator Patrick J Dunn is also the executive director of the Center. Each year, artists are invited to submit their work for the chance to be selected for an exhibit at one of the three locations, curated by Patrick J. Dunn, also the executive director of the Center.
More: newhavenpridecenter.org
Gay Men’s Chorus concert
The Connecticut Gay Men’s Chorus had to reschedule their concert last September, like so many events, due to the pandemic.
But at long last, the concert will take place on May 23, 2021, in the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center. Calling their show “The British are Coming!,” the CGMC will perform British hit songs from over the decades, including songs by Adele, George Michael, David Bowie and more.
More: ctgmc.org
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