Family Law and Gay and Lesbian Family Issues in the Twentieth Century

Abstract

Over the past thirty years, lesbians and gay men have increasingly challenged conventional definitions of marriage and the family. In this brief article, the authors tell the story of gay people and family law in the United States across this period. They divide their discussion into two sections: issues regarding the recognition of the same-sex couple relationship and issues regarding gay men and lesbians as parents. These issues overlap, of course, but since family law discussions commonly treat adult-adult issues of all sorts separately from parent-child issues, the authors believe it convenient and helpful to do so as well.