TALLAHASSEE —The same-sex couples who filed a federal lawsuit challenging Florida’s refusal to add both of their names to their children’s birth certificates asked the court for immediate protection for their families last Friday.

The request for a preliminary injunction filed by Debbie and Kari Chin of St. Petersburg and Yadira Arenas and Alma Vazquez of Winter Haven says: “Defendants’ discriminatory denial of equal birth certificates to Plaintiffs and their children … violates plaintiffs’ fundamental right to marry and to have their marriages treated equally and denies these families the privacy, dignity, legitimacy, security, support, and protections available to similarly-situated marrieddifferent-sex parents and their children. There is no justification, let alone a constitutionally adequate one, for imposing these irreparable harms on the Plaintiffs’ families.”

”There is no excuse for the State of Florida’s continued delay in issuing birth certificates listing both spouses as the parents of their own children,” said Shannon Minter, Legal Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, which represents the plaintiffs. “Florida law requires the state to issue birth certificates listing both spouses to all married couples, and the Supreme Court’s decision this past summer makes clear that it is unconstitutional for the state to treat married same-sex couples differently than opposite-sex couples with respect to birth certificates.”

On August 13, 2015, the couples, along with Equality Florida Institute, the largest organization representing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Floridians, filed a lawsuit challenging Florida’s refusal to issue birth certificates listing both spouses as parents of their children. The plaintiffs are represented by NCLR and Florida attorneys Mary Meeks and Elizabeth Schwartz. Today’s filing asks the court to order immediate relief.

Not having a birth certificate listing both spouses is discriminatory, stigmatizing, and humiliating to these families, who deserve the same security and respect as the families of other married couples.  It also prevents parents from taking care of their children’s everyday needs like obtaining healthcare, making medical decisions, signing up for daycare, and enrolling in government programs and benefits.