Isabella Has Two Mommies

Let's take a look at one very good reason why gays and lesbians ought to have the right to marry. It has nothing to do with the couple involved and everything to do with their child. It's a sorry situation, unfortunately, but one that is common to both heterosexual marriages and lesbian partnerships. I'll set the stage for you.

Back when, Lisa Miller and Janet Jenkins fell in love and became partners in 2000 under Vermont's Civil Union law. The happy couple decided to have a child, and Isabella Miller-Jenkins joined the family in 2002. In September 2003 Lisa, Isabella's biological Mom, moved back to Virginia as the couple broke up. In November, Lisa filed papers in Vermont to dissolve the Union. In them, she acknowledged that Isabella was a child of the Union and asked the court to allow her former partner to have contact with the couple's daughter. All pretty much on the up and up so far, right?

Now comes the twist. Sometime after November, Lisa says she was confused at the time she filled those papers in Vermont. She claims she did not mean to acknowledge ANY parental relationship between Janet and Isabella. In order to solidify her new claim in Virginia's courts to sole custody, Lisa becomes a CRWXtian and claims that, "When I left Janet, I left the homosexual lifestyle and drew closer to God."

I, of course, have no clue whether this is true or not. As far as I'm concerned Lisa's either bi-sexual or homosexual and using CRWXtianity to get what she wants - sole custody of 3 year old Isabella.

Enter the courts.

The Court in Vermont rules that Lisa and Janet should "be treated no differently than a husband and wife." The Judge established a reasonable visiting schedule and later held Lisa in contempt of court when she failed to comply with it. If the Vermont Court is correct, gay partners have equal custody rights like in any marriage.

The Virginia Court ruled that Lisa had the sole right to decide who could see the child. The judge there ruled that Janet had absolutely no "parentage or visitation rights." If the Virginia Court wins, no parental rights arise out of a same-sex marriage anywhere in the United States.

Let the Circus begin.

Li'l Isabella is now under the "protection" of CRWXtians and one can only wonder what she's being told about Mommy Janet. If Lisa and Janet had been allowed to marry and that marriage would have been upheld across the US like any other legal marriage, none of this would be happening. As it is, some lawyers will get very wealthy and ultimately the Supreme Court will have to step in and slice Isabella in half. According to Lisa, Isabella neither knows about the case nor cares about its consequences. "She doesn't even ask about Janet," Lisa says. "I am her only mother." As if a 3 year old would know to care about such adult happenings.

To add to the confusion, The Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act requires States to defer to the first court to hear custody cases. This would put the Vermont court and Mommy Janet in the drivers seat. But good ol' DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act, says that States need not give effect to same-sex unions, hence giving power to the Virginia court and Mommy Lisa. A tie goes to the Supreme Court for a ruling.

The Judge in Vermont said, "The judicial system as a whole simply cannot allow parties to try to take advantage of legal and cultural differences, which may make one state favor the position of a particular party over another."

Lisa is of a different mind. She says the idea that a court could force her to allow Isabella to visit Janet it would be particularly hurtful. "It would be like somebody off the streets coming and taking my daughter. They have no ties to my daughter."

Sounds like a heterosexual custody squabble to me. It should be treated like one. Equal is equal.

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