General Legal News Lesbian child custody battles and heterosexual divorce
At the National Organization for Women's recent national conference, NOW declared that there is a "crisis for women and their children in the family law courts." According to NOW, fathers often "aggressively litigate against mothers" and "use family court to stalk, harass, punish and impoverish their former partners and children." But what happens in divorce and child custody matters when there's no man around to create problems?
It can be ugly. Very ugly.
There are now many publicized cases of lesbian custody disputes. While NOW blames fathers for contentious litigation, lesbian custody cases are strikingly similar to heterosexual ones. When a lesbian mother breaks up with her partner, she often tries to drive her partner out of their children's lives – just as some heterosexual mothers do.
Moreover, lesbian mothers often employ the same tactics. These include: denying visitation or access to the children; making dubious abuse claims; moving the children far away; and denigrating the breadwinning parent's bond with the children.
For example, in a recent Canadian case, English lesbian mom Connie Springfield employed the tactic of permanently moving the children to another country under the guise of taking them there to visit. According to the Canadian National Post:
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N.Y. Court Expands Rights of Nonbirth Parents in Same-Sex Relationships Published: May 4, 2010
ALBANY — New York State’s highest court somewhat expanded the rights of gay and lesbian parents on Tuesday in a narrow ruling that said nonbiological parents in same-sex relationships should be treated the same as biological parents.
But the high court, the Court of Appeals, declined to resolve two cases involving lesbian parents and instead sent both back to lower courts, saying that the question of whether nonbiological parents should be given full parental rights was up to the State Legislature.
In one case, the court found that a lesbian who had given birth while in a committed relationship was entitled to seek child support in Family Court from her former partner. The ruling was 4 to 3. (for the full article read here)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/05/nyregion/05gays.html
Judge Upholds Illinois School's Ban on 'Be Happy, Not Gay' Shirt
U.S. District Judge William T. Hart ruled in favor of the high school Tuesday in a preliminary injunction that would have allowed the students to wear the shirts the day after Wednesday's National Day of Silence.
On the Day of Silence, students can refrain from speaking as an effort to protest discrimination against homosexuals.
The Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund is representing Heidi Zamecnik of Naperville and Alexander Nuxoll of Bolingbrook in a lawsuit that claims Zamecnik's rights were violated last year when she wasn't allowed to wear the shirt in school.
The Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Christian litigation group, will appeal the judge's decision on the preliminary injunction to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, attorney Jonathan Scruggs said. The lawsuit is still pending.