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firefly124Oddly enough, it was the AFA Newsletter that I torment myself by getting (signed up under the theory it's good to know what they're up to) where I found out about this, not any of the LGBT newsletters.
Lisa Miller and Janet Jenkins were married in Vermont. They had a child by IVF, Miller being the biological mother. They divorced, and Miller underwent a conversion experience and moved to Virginia with their daughter. For details on the background of this case, see the Newsweek article. A briefer but more up-to-date article can be found here at the LA Times.
What makes it interesting (as an outsider, heartbreaking for both women and their daughter), is that this crosses state lines, one state having same-sex marriage on the books now (civil unions at the time they split) and the other not. Quoting from the Newsweek article, here's what has transpired thus far: "It started with a simple dissolution of their union in late 2003, which both women agreed to. The Vermont judge issued a temporary visitation order in June of 2004, but within a month, Miller filed for sole, exclusive custody in Virginia. That judge ruled in Miller's favor on the ground that the union between her and Jenkins was not legally recognized in Virginia. Jenkins fought back, and after years of litigation that found Falwell's legal arm and the ACLU stepping in, the case wound up in the Virginia Supreme Court. In June of 2008, the earlier Virginia trial-court ruling was reversed and Jenkins was awarded parental and visitation rights." And according to the LA Times article, "The [Vermont] judge said the only way to ensure equal access to the child was to switch custody. He also said the benefits to the child of having access to both parents would be worth the difficulties of the change." This ruling was made on Nov 20, after Miller was found in contempt of court for refusing Jenkins' visitation rights.
And now Miller has disappeared with the child. That's who my heart breaks for the most in this, as in any vicious custody battle.
From a more detached perspective, it will be very interesting to see how this goes, mainly whether Virginia enforces the custody order and whether this ends up getting appealed to the federal level. That, imo, could only be a nightmare for everyone involved, even more than it seems to have been thus far. But it's also a case in point why this patchwork of marriage laws from state to state really isn't workable.
Lisa Miller and Janet Jenkins were married in Vermont. They had a child by IVF, Miller being the biological mother. They divorced, and Miller underwent a conversion experience and moved to Virginia with their daughter. For details on the background of this case, see the Newsweek article. A briefer but more up-to-date article can be found here at the LA Times.
What makes it interesting (as an outsider, heartbreaking for both women and their daughter), is that this crosses state lines, one state having same-sex marriage on the books now (civil unions at the time they split) and the other not. Quoting from the Newsweek article, here's what has transpired thus far: "It started with a simple dissolution of their union in late 2003, which both women agreed to. The Vermont judge issued a temporary visitation order in June of 2004, but within a month, Miller filed for sole, exclusive custody in Virginia. That judge ruled in Miller's favor on the ground that the union between her and Jenkins was not legally recognized in Virginia. Jenkins fought back, and after years of litigation that found Falwell's legal arm and the ACLU stepping in, the case wound up in the Virginia Supreme Court. In June of 2008, the earlier Virginia trial-court ruling was reversed and Jenkins was awarded parental and visitation rights." And according to the LA Times article, "The [Vermont] judge said the only way to ensure equal access to the child was to switch custody. He also said the benefits to the child of having access to both parents would be worth the difficulties of the change." This ruling was made on Nov 20, after Miller was found in contempt of court for refusing Jenkins' visitation rights.
And now Miller has disappeared with the child. That's who my heart breaks for the most in this, as in any vicious custody battle.
From a more detached perspective, it will be very interesting to see how this goes, mainly whether Virginia enforces the custody order and whether this ends up getting appealed to the federal level. That, imo, could only be a nightmare for everyone involved, even more than it seems to have been thus far. But it's also a case in point why this patchwork of marriage laws from state to state really isn't workable.
