Just when you thought the Jenkins-Miller custody battle was over, with a Vermont court ruling that Janet Jenkins could maintain child visitation rights to the daughter she parented with her former partner Lisa Miller:
Virginia’s Supreme Court this week heard arguments from Miller, the “ex-lesbian” biological mother, who wants the court to overturn an earlier ruling which affirmed Vermont court decisions giving Jenkins parental rights.
Nick Langewis at PageOneQ has a good recap of the whole interstate debacle. He also notes that fathers’-rights advocate Glenn Sacks sees the case as an example of what divorced straight women often do to their husbands. Sacks tells Jenkins “Welcome to the ‘dad’s club.”
I’ve never liked Sacks; his pro-father, pro-men stance tends to slide into misogyny. “I’m in Janet Jenkins’ corner on this one all the way,” he says. I’m a little creeped out to think I’m in that corner with him.
Langewis also discusses the “ex-gay” thread running through the case. This isn’t, however, the only recent custody battle with such a theme:
- Last year, the Utah Supreme Court ruled that parents do not have the right to visitation with non-biological children. The ruling stemmed from a custody case instigated by an ex-lesbian mom, working with an anti-gay legal organization.
- A Georgia mother tried to revoke the state’s second-parent adoption laws in order to prevent her ex-partner from custody. The Advocate says she is “rethinking her sexuality.” The Georgia Supreme Court declined to hear the case.
- A mom in Ohio tried to use the state’s ban on same-sex marriage to deny her ex-partner visitation, saying the ban also invalidated the right to co-parent. Not exactly an “ex-gay” case—but if we could revoke someone’s toaster oven. . . .
Isn’t part of being a parent teaching your children self-respect?
when we took our obligatory adoption class, so that my partner, with whom I had a baby, could adopt our babe (that’s Belgian law for you), we were sitting next to a man. He was adopting his girlfriend’s child from a lesbian relationship. We were somewhat mystified, as you might have guessed…
We have always said the only reason we would try to keep Sanna from each other is if either of us became “ex-gay” because we wouldn’t ever want her to be told that her existence is a mistake.
What will the recent decision in the California Supreme Court’s decision to legalize gay marriages mean to parents who share legal custody in these arrangements? If mom turns gay and marries her partner, then will the family court favor the family same-sex marriage in custody disputes. Scary to think that my wife and her partner will or could take full custody of my children. What next..?
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