July 2012, Movement Advancement Project, Family Equality Council, Center for American Progress: This report, “Securing Legal Ties for Children Living in LGBT Families,” is the third in a companion series to the “All Children Matter” report. Focusing specifically on the impact of state marriage and parenting laws on children living in LGBT families, this companion report provides a framework for state policymakers to draft, pass, and enact new laws that protect children living in contemporary family structures. It also includes recommendations for amending, repealing, or overturning archaic and discriminatory laws that leave children without the security of legal ties to their parents, or without the loving, “forever” homes that all children need and deserve. The report is divided into four key areas. In this introduction, we provide an overview of the diversity of LGBT families: who they are, where they live, and the economic realities they face. The next section highlights how the multiple paths to parenthood for LGBT parents intersect with archaic laws and practices that often leave children without legal ties to both parents. The third section focuses on how this lack of legal ties harms children being raised in LGBT families. The report concludes with a series of policy recommendations for designing comprehensive state-level parental recognition laws. Link to Policy Guide