海角大神

In another sign of the cultural shift in gender rights that continues to sweep the nation, the US Supreme Court on Monday ruled that Alabama鈥檚 top court went too far when it refused to recognize a gay woman鈥檚 parental rights over her adoption of her partner鈥檚 children.

The case required the Supreme Court to interpret the Constitution鈥檚 decree that states must give 鈥渇ull faith and credit鈥� to legal decisions made in other states. The high court ruled to reverse the Alabama court鈥檚 decision without hearing oral argument 鈥� a relatively unusual step taken when a ruling is considered to be especially counter to Supreme Court precedents.

Supporters of the adoptive mother, identified in court documents only as V.L. , praised the decision 鈥� and its implications for adoption rights for same-sex couples.

鈥淚f the full faith and credit clause can be as easily circumvented as it was by the Alabama Supreme Court, the parent-child relationship will be only as strong as the credit it will be given in the most restrictive states,鈥� wrote several gay rights groups in a friend-of-court brief filed on behalf of V.L., as reported by NBC News.

鈥淭his case is a part of our continuing national conversation about legal respect for the relations formed by and between same-sex couples, including those who raise children,鈥� the brief continued.

In 2007, a court in Georgia granted V.L.'s petition to adopt the children in a move that her partner and the three children鈥檚 birth mother, named in the documents as E.L., accepted at the time. After the couple 鈥� who never married 鈥� split in 2011, the pair disputed custody arrangements. V.L. then filed for joint custody in Alabama.

E.L.鈥檚 lawyers argued that parental rights granted to one person in an unmarried couple that also preserves the rights of the biological parent are banned under Georgia law 鈥� which means that the full faith and credit requirement does not apply.

The fact that the ruling overturned originated in Alabama 鈥� a deeply conservative state whose Supreme Court Justice, Roy Moore, has been among the most active opponents of same-sex marriage 鈥� could have broad ramifications nationwide, gay rights advocates say.

鈥淭he Supreme Court鈥檚 reversal of Alabama鈥檚 unprecedented decision to void an adoption from another state is a victory not only for our client but for thousands of adopted families,鈥� Cathy Sakimura, director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, told USA Today. 鈥淣o adoptive parent or child should have to face the uncertainty and loss of being separated years after their adoption just because another state鈥檚 court disagrees with the law that was applied in their adoption.鈥�

鈥淧eople have begun to realize that this is not a theoretical question about creating something new,鈥� said Gabriel Blau, the executive director of the Family Equality Council, to the Monitor in August. 鈥淭his is a real concrete question of whether we鈥檙e going to be a country that protects children and puts them first or a country that denies children the best opportunities in life, simply because we don鈥檛 think their parents鈥� sexuality is OK.鈥�

This report contains material from Reuters and the Associated Press.