FAMILIES
Appeals Court Win For Bi-National Couple, Their Sons
Claim that boy conceived with Israeli father’s sperm is no son to American dad rejected
BY PAUL SCHINDLER
A unanimous panel of the
Ninth Circuit Court of
Appeals has ruled that
the second of two boys
born together through surrogacy
in Canada to a gay couple — one
of them an American citizen, the
other an Israeli citizen — was an
American citizen from birth.
The October 9 ruling, affi rming
a February 2019 ruling by a federal
district court judge in California,
means that both of the boys
— Aiden, conceived with the sperm
of Andrew Dvash-Banks, the US
citizen; and Ethan, with the sperm
of his husband Elad Dvash-Banks
— are considered US citizens from
birth.
The case involves the interpretation
of immigration law concerning
the citizenship status of children
born outside the US when only one
of the parents is an American citizen.
If a couple, both of whom are
Americans, have a child outside the
country that child is automatically
deemed a US citizen from birth. In
cases where only one parent is a US
citizen, however, the State Department
for many years has taken the
position that the child can only be
considered a US citizen from birth
if the child is biologically related to
the US citizen parent.
That posture fl ies in the face of
what is known as the spousal parental
presumption, which in its
origins was a legal presumption
that the husband of a woman who
gives birth to a child is that child’s
ASHLI SHAPIRO/ IMMIGRATION EQUALITY father for legal purposes. That pre-
Andrew and Elad Dvash-Banks with their two children, Ethan and Aiden, and the family’s dog.
➤ BI-NATIONAL FAMILY, continued on p.19
EDUCATION
Survey Finds Ongoing Anti-LGBTQ Bigotry in Schools
GLSEN report recommends anti-harassment policies, LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum,
BY MATT TRACY
An overwhelming majority
of LGBTQ students
face harassment or assault
in schools and
most encounter homophobic or
transphobic policies in the classroom,
according to a sobering nationwide
survey that shows American
schools are still largely failing
to create an inclusive environment
for queer students.
The fi ndings, stemming from
GLSEN’s 2019 National School
Climate Survey, revealed that a
staggering 86.3 percent of LGBTQ
students reported harassment or
assault based on personal characteristics,
68.7 percent said they
were verbally harassed on the
basis of sexual orientation, 56.9
percent said they were verbally
harassed on the basis of gender
identity, and 58 percent of LGBTQ
students were sexually harassed
in the previous year.
Disturbingly, 84 percent of trans
students said they felt unsafe at
school because of their gender
identity, while two out of every fi ve
LGBTQ students of color faced bullying
or harassment based on their
race or ethnicity.
The survey also found that anti-
LGBTQ language has persisted in
schools, and students often avoid
telling school staff about the mistreatment
they face — usually because
they do not feel confi dent
administrators will do anything
about it.
The survey included answers
from 16,713 students ranging
from 13 to 21 years old across all
50 states, Washington, DC, Puerto
Rico, American Samoa, and
Guam.
The survey also showed just how
many LGBTQ students have become
pawns in the Republican-led
effort to prevent students from using
the bathroom that aligns with
their gender identity. More than a
quarter — 28.4 percent — of students
said they were unable to use
the bathroom consistent with their
gender identity.
On a related note, the longterm
results of the GLSEN survey,
which is conducted every other
year, show a correlation between
reports of verbal harassment and
the policies of the president who
is serving in offi ce. Beginning in
2009 — President Barack Obama’s
fi rst year in offi ce — reports of verbal
harassment started to drop every
single year of his time in offi ce.
In 2016, Obama posted a guidance
directing schools to allow students
to use the bathroom that corresponds
with their gender identity.
Those numbers plateaued in
2017 — President Donald Trump’s
fi rst year in offi ce — and remained
stalled in the subsequent 2019 edition
of GLSEN’s survey.
The administration’s simultaneous
assaults on the LGBTQ community
and immigrants have also
correlated with worsening conditions
for undocumented queer
students. Between 2015 and 2017,
there was a dip in the number of
LGBTQ undocumented students
who felt unsafe about their citizenship
status, but then there was a
huge 20 percent spike between
2017 and 2019.
Furthermore, approximately 80
percent of LGBTQ students of color
said in 2019 that they heard racist
remarks in the past year — a slight
increase from 2017.
Among other key fi ndings, nearly
99 percent of LGBTQ students
reported hearing “gay” used in a
➤ GLSEN SURVEY, continued on p.19
October 22 - November 4,18 2020 | GayCityNews.com
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