Court rulings lining up in favor of same-sex couples

To say that progress for same-sex and other so-called “nontraditional” families in Massachusetts and across the country has been steady and problem-free in family law matters would of course be a flatly fantastic statement not remotely grounded in reality.

In fact, achievements for the LGBT community and other individuals who identify themselves in a contrastive manner to heterosexuals have been hard fought and not without frequent heartbreak. Progress has been unsteady, and certainly not consistent across state borders.

We readily appreciate that at the Wellesley Law Offices of Lisa A. Ruggieri, P.C., where we advocate diligently on behalf of diverse clientele on important matters that span the entire spectrum of family law.

We unequivocally state on our firm’s website that “we understand the legal challenges and difficulties that gay, lesbian and non-traditional families face today.”

We do so because we wholeheartedly endorse the notion that every individual and family — however defined — should have equal rights under the law, especially in a legal realm as critically important as family law, where the bottom line involves the interaction of human beings at a fundamentally intimate and personal level.

We note in today’s post that, despite the above-cited uneven nature of progress for non-traditional families in key areas like marriage and divorce rights, foster parenting, adoption and child custody, courts across the country are showing signs of growing unanimity in case holdings that promote same-sex rights.

One select court ruling cited by CNN and many other national media outlets notes a Supreme Court decision in one state that recently overturned a long-time ban on the ability of same-sex couples to secure licenses as foster parents. The court equated the prohibition to a “Whites Only” sign on an office door at a company.

Discriminatory same-sex laws in other states are also being recognized and repudiated by courts and legislators with growing frequency.

We welcome contacts to our firm from individuals and couples without regard to their gender identity or sexual orientation. If you have a family law matter you want to discuss, we welcome the opportunity to meet with you and help solve your legal challenges.