LGBTQ+ LEGAL
Crist Law Office is welcoming to all persons and families. The legal needs of LGBTQ+ clients are the same as others - to live without discrimination, to have an estate plan that protects their wishes, to have a family or to face an unfortunate end to a relationship and have all domestic relation issues resolved. Yet, individuals in the community also face unique aspects of a legal matter that must be understood. The legal landscape faced by LGBTQ+ individuals is ever changing. As recent years have brought many legal victories such as marriage equality and a long deserved federal prohibition against workplace discrimination, so too has the effort to chip away at these hard won protections via so-called religious freedom laws.
51-53 Christopher Street, NYC - Late 1920s
The bakery and livery stable would become The Stonewall Inn
Public Domain
LGBTQ+ Rights - The Changing Legal Landscape
Advising and representing a client who is in the LGBTQ+ community requires an attorney to be up to date on the ever changing legal landscape. As time has shown, major legal wins for equal rights such as marriage equality in 2013 and the 2020 SCOTUS decision on workplace protections under the Civil Rights Act still do not result in full equal treatment and protections. Same sex marriage is recognized but can a couple get a marriage license? or a wedding cake? or reception venue? What about employment? Will we see the protections under the Civil Rights Act chipped away via employer claims of religious freedom? Adoption agencies are claiming religious freedom to turn away same-sex couples, it is the new yet age-old tactic to discriminate.
Currently, we are keeping an eye on Fulton v. City of Philadelphia which is set for argument in November before the SCOTUS. This case involves a faith-based adoption/foster agency (Catholic social services) and their denial of working with same-sex couples in their foster parent program.
Legal Practice Areas:
Family Building: Adoption/Artificial Reproductive Tech
Family Law Matters
Estate Planning
Discrimination: Housing, Workplace, Family Building, Medical Access, Cake Buying (and obtainment of other services)
Name & Gender Marker Changes
Protection From Abuse
LGBTQ+ Youth Issues - Dependency, School Matters, Bullying
Violence Against LGBTQ+
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How many years has it taken people
to realize that we are all
brothers and sisters and human beings
in the human race?
~ Marsha P. Johnson