Vulnerable without legal protections, GLBT families often are ripped apart or denied help in disputes over child custody, visitation, guardianship, or even domestic violence. Some courts curtail or forbid a parent’s visitation with children, or revoke custody simply because the parent is LGB or T.

Only Mississippi and Florida, have a formal ban on gay adoption. Courts in most other states have varyingstandards and rulings regarding this issue. For more indepthanalysis, read “State of the Family” published by the Human Rights Campaign. (www.hrc.org)

In Michigan, there is no ban on GLBT adoption or parenting. However, a judge can make the decision to grant or deny custody or parental privileges to couples, based solely on their sexual orientation. Gay and lesbian parents are frequently denied custody or adoption because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Donor Insemination

Once little understood, donor insemination provides approximately as many people the opportunity to become parents today as does adoption, according to Carol Frost Vercollone, author of Helping the Stork. Perhaps more significantly, it offers lesbian couples, single women and infertile heterosexual couples with the extraordinary privilege of bearing children of their own.

Census 2000

As long as there is a stigma attached to being GLB or T, many people will not identify themselves honestly, and getting an accurate count of our community will be impossible. Exit polling data suggest that between 5%-8% of voters identify as GL or B.

Figures from the 2000 U.S. Census show an increase in the number of households that comprise same-sex partners. Census 2000 counted 601,209 same-sex unmarried partner households in the U.S. That is a 314 percent increase from 1990. Most experts believe that same-sex couples were undercounted because of institutional prejudice and lack of clarity in how to fill out the form if you are not married. Same-sex couples live in 99.3% of all counties in the country.