Two key legal victories on behalf of married gay couples & their children became final Monday after the U.S. State Department withdrew its appeal in Kiviti v. Pompeo & decided not to appeal the district court’s decision in Mize-Gregg v. Pompeo. In both cases federal district courts found the U.S. Department of State’s refusal to recognize the U.S. citizenship of the children born abroad to two married gay U.S. citizen couples to be unlawful. Roee Kiviti stated, “We are very relieved, on behalf of our daughter, on behalf of our family & on behalf of LGBT families across this great country of ours. The law was always clear. We knew it, the courts knew it & now the State Department knows it, too. This was never just about us. It was always about standing up for what’s right. We are grateful to those who did it before us & we are humbled to be a part of the ongoing struggle for justice.” Derek Mize & Jonathan Gregg added, “We are extremely grateful that this fight is over & won. All we ever wanted was for Simone to be treated fairly. This process has reaffirmed for us that standing up for equal treatment is always right, no matter how difficult it is or long it may take.” Karen Loewy, Senior Counsel at Lambda Legal concluded, “These two cases squarely rejected the State Department’s attempt to insert a harmful, baseless biology requirement into the citizenship protections children of married citizen parents receive. In so doing, these courts kept the promise of Obergefell that married same-sex couples are entitled to the full range of marital protections & that includes the right to be recognized as their children’s parents regardless of who has a biological connection.” The two families were represented by Aaron C. Morris for Immigration Equality, Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, Karen Loewy & Tara Borelli for Lambda Legal & lawyers from the law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP. For More Info...
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