|
WINDY CITY TIMES
|
|
|
Illinois court ends bias against unmarried couples
From a NCLR press release
2014-12-19
|
|
This article shared 3820 times since Fri Dec 19, 2014
|
|
Today, in a landmark decision, the Illinois Court of Appeals for the First District ruled that courts may not discriminate against unmarried couples by preventing them from enforcing property claims against one another when they separate, ending the state's 35-year-long policy of closing the courthouse doors to unmarried couples.
Today's unanimous decision, written by Justice Margaret Stanton McBride, held that Illinois' "public policy to treat unmarried partnerships as illicit no longer exists" and that National Center for Lesbian Rights ( NCLR ) client Eileen Brewer may "proceed with her claims against her former domestic partner" regarding the shared property they built up during their 26 years together. The court held that the rule established in 1979 by the Illinois Supreme Court in Hewitt v. Hewitt, which barred courts from hearing property disputes between unmarried couples, has been reversed over the past 35 years by major legislative advancements whose goal is to treat all families equally.
The lawsuit began in 2010, when Brewer's former partner filed a lawsuit to partition the family home. Although the couple had built a life together, intertwining their finances, sharing a home, and raising three children, the trial court applied the Hewitt decision to rule that Brewer could not bring counterclaims seeking a fair share of their jointly acquired assets because the couple had not been married. Today's opinion vacated the trial court's ruling and allowed Brewer's claims to go forward. In addition to NCLR, Brewer is represented by attorney Angelika Kuehn. An amicus brief in support of Brewer was filed by Professor Nancy Polikoff, Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund, and the ACLU of Illinois.
Said NCLR Legal Director Shannon Minter, who argued the appeal: "Today's ruling is an important victory for Illinois families. As the Court recognized, Illinois's current laws and policies support fair treatment of all families, not just those based on marriage. We are thrilled for our client and for the many other people who will benefit from this ruling in the years ahead."
Added Angelika Kuehn: "This decision eliminates an outdated and harmful rule that has no basis in Illinois' current legislative policies. I am proud that today Illinois joined the 47 other states that have ended this outdated policy of discrimination against unmarried couples. The Illinois legislature has done so much to extend legal protections to all families over the past decades, and today the Court acknowledged the enormous progress we have made."
See www.nclrights.org/cases-and-policy/cases-and-advocacy/case-blumenthal-v-brewer/ .
|
|
|
|
This article shared 3820 times since Fri Dec 19, 2014
|
ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE |
---|
|
| | Thailand parliament passes landmark marriage bill 2024-03-27 - On March 27, Thailand's parliament approved a marriage-equality bill by an overwhelmingly large margina landmark step that moves one of Asia's most liberal countries closer to legalizing same-sex unions, media ...
|
| | Wyoming is latest state to ban gender-affirming care for minors 2024-03-24 - On March 22, Wyoming became the latest state to prohibit gender-affirming care for minors, The Hill noted. In doing so, it joined 23 other states that passed laws restricting or banning the treatment. Legislators in both ...
|
| | Family of 2004 murder victim holds event in Lake View; reward announced 2024-03-24 - The year 2004, for the family and friends of Lake View resident Kevin Clewer, will forever be marked by tragedy. On March 24 of that year, Clewer, 31, was found in his apartment at 3444 N. Elaine Pl.; he was the ...
|
| | No charges filed in Nex Benedict fight; campaigns call for Walters' removal 2024-03-22 - In Oklahoma, Tulsa County District Attorney Stephen Kunzweiler announced that no charges will be filed in connection with the fight that happened the day before transgender, nonbinary high school student Nex Benedict died by suicide, NBC ...
|
| | NATIONAL Va. marriage bill, AARP, online counseling, Idaho items, late activist 2024-03-21 - Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed bills protecting same-sex marriages at a state level, surprising some, WRIC reported. The billspassed out of both chambers along mostly party lineswill require clerks ...
|
| | WORLD Leaked messages, Panama action, author dies at 32, Japan court, out athletes 2024-03-15 - Hundreds of messages from an internal chat board for an international group of transgender health professionals were leaked in a report and framed as revealing serious health risks associated with gender-affirming care, including cancer, according to ...
|
| | NATIONAL Missouri measure, HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, judge, Texas schools 2024-03-15 - In Missouri, a newly proposed law could charge teachers and counselors with a felony and require them to register as sex offenders if they're found guilty of supporting transgender students who are socially transitioning, CNN noted. ...
|
| | College athletes sue NCAA over transgender policies 2024-03-15 - Former Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines was among a group of college athletes who filed a lawsuit against the NCAA on March 14, accusing it of violating their Title IX rights by allowing trans swimmer Lia Thomas ...
|
| | LGBTQ+ people attacked by mobs in Greece 2024-03-14 - Just weeks after a landmark law granted same-sex couples in Greece the right to marry, nearly 200 people dressed in black chased a transgender couple through the town square in Thessaloniki, the country's "second city" and ...
|
| | Florida settles 'Don't Say Gay' lawsuit 2024-03-11 - On March 11, the state of Florida settled a multi-year lawsuit against the so-called "Don't Say Gay" law, which limits how LGBTQ+ topics can be discussed and presented in schools, The Hill reported. The settlement agreement ...
|
| | "X" gender marker now available on Illinois driver's licenses and state ID cards 2024-03-11 - After several years of preparation, the Illinois Secretary of State's office is has been making the X gender designation available for non-binary residents and others not utilizing the M or F designations, since the beginning of ...
|
| | WORLD Israeli reservist, man detained, Ghana bill, medic denied honor 2024-03-08 - Hanania Ben-Shimonthe gay Israel Defense Forces reservist who was wounded as he killed one of the terrorists in the attack at the A-Za'ayem checkpoint near Ma'ale Adumim recentlypublished a post in which he pleaded that his ...
|
| | Court blocks Texas attorney general's demand for PFLAG data 2024-03-01 - From a press release: AUSTIN, Texas—Travis County District Court Judge Maria Cantú Hexel on March 1 blocked the latest effort by the Texas Attorney General's Office to persecute Texas families with transgender youth, temporarily haltin ...
|
| | WORLD Canadian politics, Australian murders, Finnish study, 'Anatomy' 2024-03-01 - Canadian conservatives are divided over an anti-trans policy that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith handed down in her province, The Guardian reported. The policy includes a ban on hormonal treatment, puberty ...
|
| | Appeals court allows Ind. ban on gender-affirming care for minors 2024-03-01 - On Feb. 27, a federal appeals court in Chicago allowed Indiana's ban on gender-affirming care to go into effect, removing a temporary injunction that U.S. District Court Judge James Patrick Hanlon issued last year, ABC News ...
| |
|
|
|
|