The Ohio Supreme Court this year entered a decision extending parentage rights to same-sex couples who would have been married at the time of their child’s conception but for Ohio’s unconstitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
NASW and the American Civil Liberties Union Ohio in 2023 submitted an amicus brief to the Ohio Supreme Court advocating for the rights of parents in same-sex marriages. The brief demonstrated that children develop attachment relationships to their parents regardless of the parents’ marital status or biological connection. Severing this relationship without good cause is likely to cause the child significant harm and may damage the child’s social and emotional development.
The court found each parent is entitled to the full range of parental rights that stem from the marriage relationship. NASW supports protecting the familial attachments between LGBTQ+ couples and their children and recognizes that these relationships are of the same strength, depth and importance to the healthy development of children as the relationships of opposite-sex couples and their children.
Learn more on the Legal Defense Fund's website.