• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Politics
  • Health
  • Travel
  • Gay Pride
  • Music
  • Sports
  • Law/Justice
  • Celebrities
  • Men
  • Space
  • Science
  • Gay Iconography
  • Madonna
  • Books
  • Monkeypox
  • Film/TV

Texas Same-Sex Marriage Plaintiffs Endure 2nd Harrowing Child Birth With No Parental Rights: PHOTOS

John Wright March 24, 2015

Dimetman

Cleopatra DeLeon and Nicole Dimetman were inspired to become plaintiffs in a marriage equality lawsuit during the birth of their first child. 

DeLeon experienced delivery complications, and if something had happened to her, Dimetman wouldn't have had any parental rights — even though they were legally married in Massachusetts.  

After Dimetman became pregnant with the couple's second child, it was an argument the couple's attorneys repeatedly raised as they urged federal courts to lift a stay of a February 2014 decision striking down Texas' marriage ban. 

Over the weekend, Dimetman gave birth to a baby girl (above), and again there were complications. 

DeLeon“Labor is scary and anything can happen," Dimetman said in a statement on Monday. "I had an infection as a complication of labor that led to an emergency C-section. A day that should have been one of the happiest of our life was terrifying for Cleo. If I had not made it through the childbirth, Cleo would not have been our daughter’s legal mother because her name is not allowed on the birth certificate in Texas.”

DeLeon said the couple was overjoyed about the birth of but disappointed that Texas' marriage ban remains in place. 

"It is unfair to deny loving parents like us the basic legal protections that provide stability and security so critical to child rearing," DeLeon said. "We pray for the day when all Texans are treated equally under the law and we do not have to live in fear that something bad could happen in childbirth and I would not be considered the child’s parent by law. We hope the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court make all marriages legal in Texas and across the nation.”

Neel Lane, one of the couple's attorneys, noted it's been more than two months since the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in the Texas marriage case, but the three-judge panel still hasn't ruled. 

“This otherwise joyous day for Nicole and Cleo is a sad one because, in the eyes of Texas, Nicole is an unwed mother," Lane said. "Her valid marriage to Cleo is declared void by a Texas law that U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia declared unconstitutional more than a year ago. Court after court have agreed with him, and no one doubts the U.S. Supreme Court will do the same."

The other plaintiffs in the Texas marriage lawsuit, Mark Phariss and Vic Holmes, issued a statement congratulating DeLeon and Dimetman. 

"We are so thrilled for them!" Phariss and Holmes said. "Unfortunately, Texas law does not recognize Cleo as a parent, even though Cleo and Nicole have been married for more than 5 ½ years. As a result, they must spend money to go to court to fix that, money that could be saved instead for their daughter’s future education, health care, and welfare. The time has now come for marriage equality to be recognized in Texas for the sake Nicole and Cleo and their daughter and for the sake of all gays and lesbians in Texas, including Vic and me who, after 18 years together, desperately want to marry the person we love in the state we love.”

Topics: LGBT Rights, Supreme Court More Posts About: Austin, Austin, gay adoption, gay parents, gay rights, LGBT Rights, San Antonio, Texas, Texas

Related Posts
  • Idaho, Alabama, Wisconsin Advance Anti-Trans Youth Bills, Including Life In Prison Punishment For Providing Puberty Blockers
  • The 100,000 (est) Men Convicted for Same-Sex Contact Under UK’s Maze of Sodomy Laws Over The Last Few Hundred Years Can Get Pardons Now. Bit Late For Some.
  • Supreme Court Weighs Free speech vs. Texas College’s Censure of Aggressive Anti-LGBT Activist On Its Board of Trustees
  • Bad Bunny refuses to give clothes a gender

    Bad Bunny refuses to give clothes a gender

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Bad Bunny refuses to give clothes a gender. The 28-year-old rap star – whose real name is Benito Ocasio – is unsure what defines “masculine” or “feminine” and cannot discriminate clothing …Read More »
  • Biden to issue policing order on George Floyd death anniversary -media reports

    Biden to issue policing order on George Floyd death anniversary -media reports

    Published by Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden is set to issue an executive order on Wednesday directing federal agencies to revise use-of-force policies as the United States marks the two-year anniversary of the police …Read More »
  • Ellen DeGeneres starts her ‘career pause’ in Africa

    Ellen DeGeneres starts her ‘career pause’ in Africa

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Ellen DeGeneres’ “career pause” will begin with a luxury African vacation. The final episode of ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ will air later this week, and Ellen and her wife Portia de …Read More »
  • ‘The Kids in the Hall’ review: Sketch comedy is a young person’s game — yet here are older guys just ripping into the form as if they never left

    ‘The Kids in the Hall’ review: Sketch comedy is a young person’s game — yet here are older guys just ripping into the form as if they never left

      Published by Chicago Tribune   The TV landscape tends to feel pretty dismal when “Saturday Night Live” is the only sketch comedy game in town. And often that’s the case. Over its four-plus decade run, …Read More »
Previous Post: « Towleroad Guide to the Tube #1712
Next Post: Sinkhole Swallows Bus in Brazil; River Carries Bus Away – VIDEO »

Primary Sidebar

News

  • Pelosi hits back at San Francisco archbishop for banning her from Communion over pro-choice stance

    Pelosi hits back at San Francisco archbishop for banning her from Communion over pro-choice stance

  • Mick Jagger Cuts Harry Style Down To Size, Says He ‘Doesn’t Have A Voice Like Mine Or Move On Stage Like Me’

    Mick Jagger Cuts Harry Style Down To Size, Says He ‘Doesn’t Have A Voice Like Mine Or Move On Stage Like Me’

  • Summer Love? Rosie O’Donnell Teases Possible New Girlfriend With PDA Moment

    Summer Love? Rosie O’Donnell Teases Possible New Girlfriend With PDA Moment

  • U.S. commission recommends renaming nine Army bases to strip Confederate legacy

    U.S. commission recommends renaming nine Army bases to strip Confederate legacy

Break

  • Keanu Reeves hailed one of world’s nicest men

    Keanu Reeves hailed one of world’s nicest men

  • Toni Collette, Mark Ruffalo and Noami Ackie join ‘Parasite’ Filmmaker Bong Joon-ho’s new movie And it Sounds Mind Blowing

    Toni Collette, Mark Ruffalo and Noami Ackie join ‘Parasite’ Filmmaker Bong Joon-ho’s new movie And it Sounds Mind Blowing

  • Starbucks to completely exit Russia after Ukraine invasion

    Starbucks to completely exit Russia after Ukraine invasion

  • Evan Spiegel & Miranda Kerr Pay Off $10 Million In Loans Of Otis College’s Graduating Class

    Evan Spiegel & Miranda Kerr Pay Off $10 Million In Loans Of Otis College’s Graduating Class

RSS Partner Links

  • Morning Wood
  • “The latest ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ trailer finally reveals the villain” links
  • Duchess Meghan kissed Harry, then wiped her lipstick off of his mouth
  • Kristen Stewart, Scott Speedman & Tom Sturridge Match In Sharp Sunglasses For Cannes 75th Anniversary Event
  • Diane Kruger & Norman Reedus Are Couple Goals at Cannes Film Festival 2022
  • Jennifer Connelly Recalls Meeting Princess Diana When She Was A Teenager
  • CBS Pulls 'FBI' Season Finale After Elementary School Shooting in Texas
  • Scenes from Greg Berlanti’s 50th birthday!
  • Texas: 14 Children, 1 Teacher Shot Dead In Uvalde Elementary School; Shooter Dead

Most Recent

  • NC Republicans push ban on teachers discussing LGBTQ issues, other rules for schools

    NC Republicans push ban on teachers discussing LGBTQ issues, other rules for schools

  • Bad Bunny refuses to give clothes a gender

    Bad Bunny refuses to give clothes a gender

  • Biden to issue policing order on George Floyd death anniversary -media reports

    Biden to issue policing order on George Floyd death anniversary -media reports

  • Ellen DeGeneres starts her ‘career pause’ in Africa

    Ellen DeGeneres starts her ‘career pause’ in Africa

  • ‘The Kids in the Hall’ review: Sketch comedy is a young person’s game — yet here are older guys just ripping into the form as if they never left

    ‘The Kids in the Hall’ review: Sketch comedy is a young person’s game — yet here are older guys just ripping into the form as if they never left

  • Opinion: The Right-Wing Airing of Imaginary Grievances Like Sex Ed Is Not and Never Has Been Used To Groom

    Opinion: The Right-Wing Airing of Imaginary Grievances Like Sex Ed Is Not and Never Has Been Used To Groom

  • Tan France gets parenting advice from Gigi Hadid

    Tan France gets parenting advice from Gigi Hadid

Most Commented

Social

Twitter @tlrd | Facebook | Instagram @tlrd
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2022 · Log in