It’s been a weekend of protests for the LGBT community. The New York Times, among other places covered them, as did most LGBT news channels. Pick your favorite; I won’t list them all here.

Instead, I’m going to highlight the interview that actor and lesbian mom Cynthia Nixon did on Friday with Joy Behar, who guest-hosted Larry King Live. In it, Nixon talks candidly about Prop 8 and LGBT rights. I have to question, however, one of her legal reasons for wanting to marry her partner, Christine Marinoni. Nixon has two children from a previous, opposite-sex relationship. She and the children’s father are therefore the legal parents. Nixon said that if she got hit by a truck, Marinoni would have no legal rights to the children, even though she (Marinoni) is currently their stay-at-home mom. Nixon claimed that if she and Marinoni were married, Marinoni would have legal rights as their stepparent.

Fact is, as I understand it, even for a married, opposite-sex couple, the stepparent would have no legal rights unless the non-custodial biological parent had given up his rights and allowed the stepparent to adopt the children. Nixon and her ex could do this even now, I believe—although it seems they have a good relationship and Nixon doesn’t feel any need to revoke his rights. Would Nixon and Marinoni’s marriage, without Marinoni adopting the children, give Marinoni any legal standing in relation to the children if Nixon died, though, making her and the ex the legal parents? I think not, but I’m not a lawyer. Anyone from the audience? Is this a state-by-state matter?

If I’m correct here, this should be a warning for us not to put all our eggs in the marriage basket, as Nancy Polikoff has said before. As important as marriage rights are, there are a host of additional legal issues that arise when it comes to parenting, and which shouldn’t necessarily be tied to marriage. (Note that Nixon and her male ex never married.)

[Update: Nancy Polikoff, an expert in LGBT family law, confirms my analysis in her comment below.]