Oh boy. Custody battle between divorcee who says she's no longer gay and her ex-wife

[charlie]

I say oh boy, not because the case skates into unknown legal territory, but because fundies of Thomas Road Baptist Church are in the middle of it. Ms Miller, the birth mother, is emphatically "ex-gay", nattering on about the sin of homosexuality and the "homosexual agenda". She's withholding court ordered visitation rights from the woman she'd once joined in a civil union, and has charged her with molestation of their daughter. Naturally, Falwell's Liberty Counsel has been only too happy to represent her, and those idiots may cost her custody of her child in their pursuit of "Godliness".

http://www.newsweek.com/id/172554/output/print

Lisa Miller's blog:

http://imgodschild.wordpress.com

[BrklynLiberal]

1. There is no doubt that more evil, pain and cruelty are perpetrated in the name of a god..

the god of your choice...than for any other reason.

[marmar]

2. No doubt......Organized religion has been the most destructive force in the history of humankind.

nt

[BrklynLiberal]

3. Yep. I agree 100%

[scotchandsoda]

4. You are 100% correct. And it is why they maintain so much power.

Something must break that chain.

[XemaSab]

7. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[galileoreloaded]

16. That about says it all.....blind ideology is a nasty, nasty companion...n/t

[paulsby]

17. ah, this old canard

that might have been true prior to the 20th century.

considering the scores of millions killed, tortured, etc by atheists in the 20th century (mao, pol pot, stalin, etc.) it has no validity. consider that their regimes were also officially atheist, iow there were in many cases criminal sanctions to people practicing religion.

evil. pain. cruelty. they are part of the human condition. since most humans throughout history have BEEN religious, naturally they used religion to justify same

but considering that regimes that certainly had no religious motivation set records in the 20th century for murderous assholeness, this meme needs to die.

it's all cute and people love to sound profound saying it... but it simply aint so

[Thickasabrick]

5. What an evil, wicked bitch. Just confirms to me how bad religion can

be for people. Good luck to Ms. Jenkins.

[ruggerson]

6. If she can sing, maybe she'll do a fundraiser next primary season

n/t

[Jamastiene]

8. There is NO such animal.

"Ex-gay" does not exist. It is denial.
(This is directed at the "Ex-gay" bunch, not the OP)

I might have known Falwell's dipshit flunky underlings were all up in this situation.

[MadHound]

21. I think that human sexuality is much more complex and convoluted than that.

I don't think that you can make any kind of blanket statement such as that, no matter how you approach human sexuality.

I had a girlfriend that I lived with for a number of year whose previous two relationships were with women. After we separated she married another guy, and stayed happily married until her early, untimely death.

Human sexuality is not cut and dried, I think that it is much more complex, with a spectrum of possible outcomes.

[jgraz]

9. I can't think of anything worse for a child than a freak-ass fundie parent.

That poor kid...

[cali]

10. The Newsweek article leaves out that custody has been granted to

Janet.

VT Judge Awards Custody to Non-Biological Mom
by Kilian Melloy
Monday Nov 30, 2009

Happier times: Isabella as an infant with her two mothers
Happier times: Isabella as an infant with her two mothers
Related Topics: anti-gay Christians | GLBT family equality | GLBT families
Email Print Share Buzz up!
A long-running custody dispute has culminated in a Vermont judge ordering the former partner of a child’s biological mother to assume custody of the child. The anti-gay Christian press says that the seven-year-old child, Isabella, is a "stranger" to her new custodial parent, Janet Jenkins, and that Isabella had "violent reactions" whenever she was in Jenkins’ care due to her "lesbian lifestyle." But according to lawyer and family court expert Kurt Hughes of Burlington, Vermont, the outcome is typical of certain custodial cases in which one parent repeatedly refuses to abide by a court-ordered custody arrangement.

"Even though it’s hit the headlines because this happens to be a same-sex couple, this is a very basic family law that we’re talking about," Hughes told local news station WCAX, which reported on the case in a Nov. 23 article.

"There’s something called parental alienation syndrome, in which one parent is constantly bad mouthing the other parent," Hughes explained. "And so the courts over the years have decided that the potential long term psychological impact to a child from that type of behavior is much greater than the temporary disruption that would result from a child changing households from one parent to the other." The biological mother, Lisa Miller, has been ordered to relinquish custody of daughter Isabella to Jenkins by the start of the new year. Miller will retain visitation rights. If she does not comply, she may end up in prison.

Vermont Family Court Judge William Cohen ruled that the change of custody was necessary because the dispute had the capacity to harm the child more than a change of custody would. Wrote Judge Cohen, "Ms. Miller’s interference with the relationship between (the child) and Ms. Jenkins have become so pervasive that it now outweighs the potential harm that could occur to the child by a chance of custody."

<snip>

http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc2=news&sc3=&id=99531

[Thickasabrick]

11. But the kid is still with Miller - right? Does this come down to Virginia

ignoring Vermont as it relates to custody?

[cali]

13. right. the kid is still with Miller and Cohen just ruled

on this. But Miller already lost once in VA re visitation and now she's in contempt of the VA courts as well as the VT courts. We'll see what happens from here on in, but I'm hopeful.

[tabbycat31]

12. she's probably bi

or went back into the closet.

[jgraz]

14. as in bi-atshit crazy?

[mitchum]

15. Or just an opportunist?

[Blue_Tires]

18. ugh... the GOP's next cover girl

she will probably be a keynote speaker at the 2012 convention...

i've seen some unconscionable things, but stealing a child from a spouse just out of hateful spite and then shutting her out while hiding behind the bible is near the top of the list...

[cali]

20. Fortunately, both the VT and VA courts have made it clear that Miller

can't shut Jenkins out. And Judge Cohen has awarded full custody to Jenkins. We'll see where that goes.

[SoCalDem]

19. Which is precisely why the "law" needs to change

Any adult should be able to "partner/pair-bond/marry/share-a-life" with ANY other adult they choose.. It should be a legally binding "contract", but not necessarily a "marriage". Just a simple change in definition would solve a lot of issues.

If the pair decides they want GOD to weigh in, they can get "sanctified" b y the church.. but as far as the law should be concerned, the TWO ADULTS are legally bound into a contractual partnership, unless the contract needs to be dissolved at a future date. Until that time, those two adults would have all the same rights as any other pair of adults.. sanctified or not.