Attempt by legislators to reverse Virginia Supreme Court ruling fails on narrow vote

The Virginia Department of Vital Records has finally complied with a nine month-old state Supreme Court decision requiring birth certificates issued to adopted children of same-sex couples to list both parents, and has done so without requiring one to be a father and the other a mother.
Prior to the high court's ruling last April, Vital Records would list only one of the parents in a same-sex relationship on a birth certificate, claiming that the state's form only allowed for one mother and one father to be listed, and thus could not accommodate two mothers or two fathers. After the ruling, Vital Records agreed to list both parents, but still insisted on labeling one as a mother and the other as a father.
Now, however, birth certificates will have listings for “Parent 1” and “Parent 2” rather than "mother" and "father."
"We are delighted that this matter is finally resolved and that gay and lesbian adoptive parents will be fully recognized on Virginia birth certificates," said ACLU of Virginia executive director Kent Willis. "The shame is that it took a lawsuit and a lot of time and money to accomplish this simple feat. The Department of Vital Records could have made this happen four years ago with the simple stroke of a pen."
The ACLU filed a lawsuit in 2002 after the Department of Vital Records refused to issue fully accurate birth certificates to three same-sex couples from New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland who had adopted children born in Virginia. In early 2004, a Richmond Circuit Court judge ruled in favor of the Department of Vital Records. The ACLU appealed the decision to the Virginia Supreme Court, which ordered the change.
After the Supreme Court’s ruling in April 2005, Vital Records began issuing birth certificates with the names of both same-sex parents, but listed one as the mother and the other as the father.  Negotiations ensued, with the final resolution ultimately being reached earlier this month.
"Vital Record's refusal to fully comply with the Supreme Court ruling is an indication of just how deeply the prejudice against gays and lesbians still runs in Virginia.” said Willis at the time.
Because Virginia does not yet allow same-sex couples to adopt children, the ruling applies only to situations in which out-of-state couples adopt a child from Virginia and then seek a new birth certificate. The practice of having birth certificates altered to show adoptive parents rather than birth parents is common throughout the United States.
Meanwhile, Virginia's legislators attempted to negate the Virginia Supreme Court ruling with a bill that would prevent both members of a same-sex couple from being listed on a Virginia birth certificate. Fortunately, the Senate’s Education and Health Committee, on a vote of 8 to 7, killed SB 414, which was introduced by Sen. Emmett Hanger, Jr.

Contact: Kent Willis, ACLU of Virginia Executive Director, 804-644-8022