LOUISIANA: Federal Appeals Court Denies Gay Dads On Birth Certificate Request

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has refused to allow two gay dads to have their names placed on the Louisiana birth certificate of their adopted son. That right is automatically granted to married couples, but Louisiana does not allow unmarried couples to adopt and does not allow gay people to marry.

Chief Judge Edith Jones wrote for a nine-member majority, rejecting the men's argument that Louisiana illegally treats adoptive children of unmarried parents differently from adoptive children with married parents. "This theory is unavailing in the face of the state's rational preference for stable adoptive families, and the state's decision to have its birth certificate requirements flow from its domestic adoption law," Jones wrote. Also at issue was whether the constitutional requirement that states give "full faith and credit" to each other's laws required the inclusion of both men's names on the birth certificate of the child. That, Jones said, does not mean that Louisiana must "confer particular benefits on unmarried adoptive parents contrary to its law."

The child was born in Louisiana, but adopted in New York where both men are recognized as his parents.