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In Your State: Louisiana

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Philadelphia Winter Mixer
02/16/2012 - 17:30
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Freedom to Marry 2012: 11th Annual Freedom to Marry Reception
02/22/2012 - 18:30
Chicago, Illinois
An Afternoon of Ladies and Lambda Legal
03/04/2012 - 13:00
San Francisco, California
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Statewide Relationship Recognition
no Licenses marriages for same-sex couples.
no Honors marriages of same-sex couples from other jurisdictions
no Relationship recognition for same-sex couples: none.
  • 2004 The state’s Constitution is amended to say “Marriage in the state of Louisiana shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman. No official or court of the state of Louisiana shall construe this constitution or any state law to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any member of a union other than the union of one man and one woman. A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized. No official or court of the state of Louisiana shall recognize any marriage contracted in any other jurisdiction which is not the union of one man and one woman.” See Louisiana Constitution, Article XII, §15.
  • 1999 Louisiana prohibits marriage between same-sex couples by statute. See Louisiana Civil Code Annotated, Articles 96 and 3520(B).

Statewide Employment Protections
no Private employment protections based on sexual orientation.
no Private employment protections based on gender identity.
no Public (state) employment protections based on sexual orientation.
no Public (state) employment protections based on gender identity.

See La. R.S. 23:332

  • 2003 Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco issues an executive order banning discrimination based on sexual orientation against state employees, see Executive Order No. KBB 2004-54.

Statewide Parenting Laws
Who May Adopt Single person or married couple jointly. La. CHC 1198, 1202
Second Parent Adoptions Not yet permitted
Notes

Case law forbids joint adoptions by unmarried heterosexual couples. Adoption of Meaux, 417 So. 2d 522 (La. App. 1982). Relatively unfriendly climate See Scott v. Scott, 665 So.2d 760 (La. App. 1 Cir. 1995)

Regional Offices Information

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South Central Region

South Central Regional Office
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Region Includes:
Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas

Southern Region

Southern Regional Office
730 Peachtree Street, NE
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Atlanta , Georgia , 30308-1210
404-897-1880
www.lambdalegal.org/sro
Region Includes:
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia

Western Region

Western Regional Office
3325 Wilshire Boulevard
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Los Angeles , California , 90010-1729
213-382-7600
www.lambdalegal.org/wro
Region Includes:
Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawai`i, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming

Related Content for region

10/11/2011
U.S. Supreme Court Denies Lambda Legal Appeal of Louisiana Birth Certificate Ruling
(Washington, DC, October 11, 2011) – The U.S. Supreme Court today denied Lambda Legal’s petition for a writ of certiorari in the case of a same-sex couple seeking an accurate birth certificate for their Louisiana-born son whom they adopted in New York. The Louisiana state registrar has refused to recognize the adoption and issue a birth certificate listing both fathers as the boy’s parents.
9/20/2011
Lambda Legal Receives Forum for Equality's First Justice Acclaim Award
(New Orleans, La., September 20, 2011) - Forum for Equality Louisiana has named Lambda Legal as the first recipient of its Justice Acclaim Award in recognition of Lambda Legal’s work on the case of the gay couple seeking a Louisiana birth certificate for their Louisiana-born adopted son.
8/11/2011
Child Welfare, Legal Advocates Support Lambda Legal's Petition for Supreme Court Review of Louisiana's Refusal to Issue Birth Certificate to Son Adopted by Two Fathers
The nation's leading child welfare organizations have joined family law and constitutional scholars in support of Lambda Legal's petition for a writ of certiorari asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case of a same-sex couple seeking an accurate birth certificate for their Louisiana-born son whom they adopted in New York. The state of Louisiana has refused to issue a birth certificate listing both fathers as the boy's parents.
7/11/2011
Lambda Legal Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Review Louisiana's Refusal to Respect Out-of-State Adoption by Same-Sex Parents
Today Lambda Legal filed a petition for a writ of certiorari asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case of a same-sex couple seeking an accurate birth certificate for their Louisiana-born son whom they adopted in New York. The state of Louisiana has refused to recognize the adoption and issue a birth certificate listing both fathers as the boy's parents.
10/9/2007
Adar v. Smith
Case representing gay fathers who were refused a birth certificate for their newly adopted son by the office of the Louisiana State Registrar.
7/23/2003
In re Little
Case arguing the right for a man living with HIV to receive care after being rejected from six nursing homes because of his HIV status
6/21/2011
Doe v. Jindal
Amicus brief filed in support of case challenging the Crime Against Nature by Solicitation ("CANS") law.
8/14/2003
Ralph v. City of New Orleans
Case arguing to preserve insurance benefits for same-sex couples after they are threatened by antigay group

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