Ban on Dad's "Gay Lifestyle" Reversed

Some time ago Joseph Hogue, a divorced gay father, was placed under a court restraining order that forbade him from exposing his son "to his gay lover(s) and/or gay lifestyle." In 2002 Hogue was found in contempt of court and sentenced to two days in jail because he told his son that he was gay. Now, however, The Court of Appeals of Tennessee has reversed the restraining order completely.

Ann Rostow writes

Although the opinion avoided any qualitative discussion of sexual orientation, the language implied that orientation should be a neutral factor in family law. The phrase "gay lifestyle," wrote Judge Frank Clement for the court, is just as unclear as the terms "heterosexual lifestyle," "urban lifestyle" or "stoic lifestyle."

And in order to pass muster, a restraining order must not only be specific, but it must be geared toward preventing harm to a child. "Neither gay parents nor heterosexual parents have special rights," Judge Clement continued. "They are subject to the same laws, the same restrictions."

The original order - and every court decision since that defended or relied upon it - was undeniably a bigoted slap against gay parents, driving by a religious zeal to excise gays from society generally. The order never should have been allowed to remain in force for so long and it's about time that it was finally eliminated.

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