Anti-Gay Custody Ruling Rejected

For 22 years, a North Dakota Supreme Court ruling has prevented gay and lesbian parents from retaining custody of their children after a divorce. Now, thanks, to the efforts of one woman to keep custody of her two daughters, that precedent has been overturned. This means that gays and lesbians in North Dakota have a bit more equal rights.

Ann Rostow explains:

[T]he unanimous high court disagreed, providing a long list of opinions from other courts recognizing that homosexuality alone cannot be grounds for a change in custody, and that the best interests of the child are paramount in such decisions. In [Valerie] Damron's case, her former husband acknowledged that both children are doing fine, and even the trial court described her as a fit parent. To the extent that the 1981 decision disqualified a custodial parent solely on the basis of sexual orientation, the high court wrote, "It is overruled." ... "This is a tremendous victory for lesbian and gay families in North Dakota," said the ACLU's Tamara Lange in a statement. "Parents like Valerie Damron no longer have to fear losing their children just because some members of their communities might not like their parents. Other people's bigotry can't be used as an excuse to tear families apart anymore."

There are now evidently only four states where gays and lesbians can be denied custody based solely upon their sexual orientation: Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina and Virginia. Hopefully, before too long, they will change as well. Despite what conservative evangelical Christians say, there is nothing about gays or lesbians that would make them unfit parents. They are just as good (or bad) as anyone else - including the evangelicals.

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