Suit Says Florida Will Not Issue Correct Birth Certificates To Married Lesbian Couples

A lawsuit was filed in federal district court in Florida yesterday challenging the birth certificate policy of Florida's Bureau of Vital Statistics.  The complaint (full text) in Chin v. Armstrong, (ND FL, Aug. 13, 2015), alleges:

When a child is born to a woman who is married to another woman ... the Bureau ... will not issue accurate birth certificates listing both parents.... Instead, the Bureau will issue only a certificate that falsely indicates that the child has only one parent and that omits the mother’s spouse as the child’s second parent.

The suit contends that this infringes plaintiffs' fundamental right to marry as well as denying them equal protection of the laws. Equality Florida Action issued a press release on the filing of the lawsuit.