LGBT RIGHTS:

1. 2017 Update LGBT RIGHTS:

2. Elizabeth Schwartz, Esq. Miami Beach attorney: Elizabeth F. Schwartz Attorneys & Mediators Author of Before I Do: A Legal Guide to Marriage, Gay and Otherwise Accolades too numerous to list Well respected for her work on behalf of LGBT community Super smart!

3. Joshua Aaron Jones Not Elizabeth Schwartz: Local guy LGBT attorney Estate Planning/Family Law/Etc. Also super smart!

4. THE BOOK:

5. Before I Do: • “Before I do is for couples who have been coloring outside the lines and now are considering making their relationship legal. It explains what marriage means – and does not mean. It spells out all the implications of marriage in a straightforward, easy-to-follow style.” Elizabeth Schwartz, Before I do, p. 2 (The New Press, New York, NY 2016). A Legal Guide to Marriage, Gay and Otherwise

6. Before I Do: A Legal Guide to Marriage, Gay and Otherwise • WELL RECEIVED AND VERY INFORMATIVE • MANY EXCELLENT HYPOTHETICAL EXAMPLES • GUEST/CAMEO WRITERS, WHO ARE EXPERTS ON VARIOUS SUB-TOPICS

7. Topics for this evening: Current Issues Future Issues Obergefell/Windsor/Pareto Obergefell v. Hodges, 135 S. Ct. 2584 (2015) U.S. v. Windsor, 133 S. Ct. 2675 (2013) Pareto v. Ruvin, 14-1661-CA-01 (Fla DCA 11th July 25, 2014) Litigation to clean up “gap issues” Discrimination Couples that don’t wish to marry Reproductive rights/non-traditional family building Equal Rights Amendment Helping our transgender brothers and sisters New form of alternative dispute resolution: COLLABORATIVE FAMILY LAW VOTER REGISTRATION!!!

8. CASE LAW THAT SETTLED THE ISSUE OF MARRIAGE EQUALITY? Windsor Pareto Obergefell Out of Ohio (the primary case) Dying partner Married in another state Sought preemptive ruling that spouse would be included on Ohio death certificate U.S. SUPREME COURT: Marriage is a fundamental right; Baker v. Nelson overturned. New York lesbian couple Married in Canada Upon death, the IRS would not allow spousal exemption to estate tax Approx. $600K estate tax bill U.S. SUPREME COURT: Portion of Federal defense of marriage act unconstitutional; U.S. government must recognize valid state marriages. 6 same-sex couple in Florida Challenged Florida’s ban on same-sex marriage Beautifully written opinion FLORIDA SUPREME COURT: Marriage is a fundamental right, including for gay and lesbian couples; voided Constitutional Amendment and related statutes

9. CURRENT ISSUES: MORE LITIGATION?! Many issues to clean up: Many issues in marital and family law do not easily translate over to LGBT marriage equality Gap between cohabitation and actual marriage Parental rights and responsibilities Polyamorous relationships Tax issues Real estate issues Native American Tribes: at least 9, including Seminoles, do not recognize marriage equality But you and Elizabeth Schwartz are super smart? How could there be more to litigate?

10. CURRENT ISSUES: • Managing a couple that does not wish to marry • Housing and employment discrimination • Transgender rights and violence against transgender people • New methods of solving family and marital problems: COLLABORATIVE FAMILY LAW!!!

11. SHAMELESS PLUG: COLLABORATIVE FAMILY LAW: • COST EFFECTIVE PROBLEM SOLVING APPROACH THAT MINIMIZES THE IMPACT OF CONFLICT ON YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN • Each side has an attorney • A neutral mental health person serves as a facilitator of meetings • Any experts, such as financial professionals are neutral • Nothing gets filed until a settlement is reached • All attorneys and experts MUST withdraw from the case, if a party decides to litigate. • Westfloridacollaborativelaw.com

12. FUTURE ISSUES: COULD MARRIAGE EQUALITY BE OVERTURNED? Though extremely unlikely, YES! • Nebraska partial-birth abortion ban was deemed unconstitutional because the term was vague • By 2003, U.S. Congress was solidly Republican, and they passed their own PBA ban, with very specific language • U.S. Supreme Court in Gonzales v. Carhart upheld the law • Santorum has suggested that a Republican controlled congress could simply reenact a marriage ban when the Supreme Court is stacked with conservative judges • U.S. Constitutional Amendment

13. FUTURE ISSUES: • We still need to clean up statutory language that uses gender specific pronouns for marriage related issues • Modernize the surrogacy statute • Employment Non-Discrimination Act • Equal Rights Amendment • Mandatory health care recognition for transgender people • A way to manage all the many labels we seem to create each day • Violence against the LGBTQIAPK: • Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, Pansexual, Polyamorous, Kink

14. I AM HERE TO HELP My Team: • Joshua Aaron Jones: info@joshuajoneslaw.com • Dustin Koehle, Paralegal: dkoehle@joshuajoneslaw.com • Andy Davis, Office Manager: adavis@joshuajoneslaw.com

15. THANK YOU! Joshua Aaron Jones, Attorney at Law, PLLC 41 North Jefferson Street, Suite 107 Pensacola, FL 32502 (850) 607-6879 F: (850) 273-5350 Joshuajoneslaw.com info@joshuajoneslaw.com