Mother’s Day Video: Mothers the Law Won’t Recognize

Many Loving North Carolina Families Have Two Moms or Two Dads, But Unjust State Laws Allow Only One to Be Legally Recognized Parent

May 10, 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: 212-549-2666, media@aclu.org

RALEIGH, N.C. – To mark this upcoming Mother’s Day, the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina is releasing a new video of loving North Carolina families headed by gay or lesbian parents to draw attention to unjust state laws that allow only one parent in an unmarried couple to be their child’s legally recognized guardian.

The video released today features families from Durham, Morrisville, and Wake Forest. Two previous videos profiled families from Greensboro and Asheville.

Today’s video can be viewed here.

Videos of the Greensboro and Asheville couples can be found here and here.

Last year, the ACLU and the ACLU of North Carolina Legal Foundation filed a federal lawsuit in Greensboro on behalf of six gay and lesbian couples and their children, seeking to gain second parent adoption rights that would ensure that children raised by unmarried parents have the security of two legally recognized parents. All of the families featured in the videos are clients in the ACLU lawsuit.

A second parent adoption occurs when one partner in an unmarried couple adopts the other partner’s biological or adoptive child; this can occur in both gay and straight relationships. Second parent adoption is currently illegal in North Carolina; the ACLU is challenging the ban.

More information about the lawsuit and the families involved can be found at here.