Posted on 12/08/2004 12:54:48 AM PST by JohnHuang2
A woman who gave birth to a child months before entering a same-sex civil union in Vermont is appealing a court ruling that granted parental standing to her former partner.
Cheryl Barlow, who says she no longer is a lesbian, was united with Keri Jones, both residents of Utah, five months after Barlow became pregnant by artificial insemination in 2001.
But the relationship ended in 2003 after Barlow discovered Jones was seeing another woman.
Jones then sued for parental visitation rights to Barlow's child and was granted favor by Judge Timothy Hanson in Utah's 3rd District Court in Salt Lake City after a brief, three-day trial.
Barlow wants the Utah Court of Appeals to overturn the decision.
Her attorney, Frank Mylar, who is allied with the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund, argues Jones has had no relationship with the now 3-year-old child for over a year and has no legal right to visitation.
"Enforced visitation will only promote confusion and conflict in this child's life and upbringing," he said.
Mylar points out the civil union is not valid in Utah, where the law ensures Jones could never have any legal right to Barlow's child during their relationship.
"We do not believe the court sufficiently evaluated the child's well-being," Mylar said. "The decision to grant Jones visitation with the child defies Barlow's constitutional rights, Utah law and local public policy."
The appeals court will hear the case even though an appellate judge decided Friday not to stay the order of the lower court, forcing the child to spend 10-hour visitations with Jones during the proceedings.
"It is unconstitutional for the court to award parental standing to an unrelated third party over the objections of a fit natural parent who has never been deprived of custody," Mylar contended.
"Granting parental standing to a legal stranger in a non-marital relationship pushes Utah law to where it's never been," he said.
Custody battles for the queers ... as if our courts weren't already clogged.
Only in my beloved UTAH would a Judge grant such a visitation request. It only goes to prove, at least to me that the judiciary has lost it's friggin mind. They should all be expunged.
But that flies in the face of the homosexual agenda. Expect lots of financial support to the other woman.
Ka Ching Ka Ching
Oh, I don't know that the idiocy is at all limited to Utah.
Yup!...here we go...only the start of big legal messes to come over gay/lesbian marriages...I would guess that these divorces will make heterosexual divorce look like a tea party......lawyers will make big bucks of course.
"Enforced visitation will only promote conflict in the child's life and upbringing"
ROTFLMAOTMSH!!!
...like having two "mothers" won't!
Hell has no fury as a gay/lesbian scorned......
This makes it tempting to change one's mind and support gay marriage, except for the poor children.
I don't mean to generalize, but I've known and been friends with a number of queers and lesbians, and they are without exception the most emotionally immature people I've ever known. They don't call them drama queens without cause. I can't imagine what would make anyone think that these people should have children in their custody.
And I'll bet he said it without a trace of irony.
Hot Damn! This is better than mud wrestling. :-)
Good idea....we'll settle this in the mud!....
That was my thought exactly. According to all the arguments I've heard, homosexuality is not a choice. So one couldn't arbitrarily decide that she is no longer a lesbian.
I think it's probably widespread, but most cases don't make the news. In MA -- well before the gay marriage decision -- the probate court was treating this kind of case pretty much the same way they'd treat visitation in a divorce.
Talk to Elen Degeneres' ex...
And what of those "bi-curious" ads? Sounds like they want people to experiment with something that "may not be their lifestyle".
Certainly for some people it is a choice.
Bi-sexuals certainly have to make a "choice" of male or female when they become monogamous (no polygamy, even in the homosexual agenda for same sex marriages at this point).
It cuts both ways. You wanted a "marriage", you got one - for better or for worse. Life's a b*tch!
"Cheryl Barlow, who says she no longer is a lesbian, was united with Keri Jones, both residents of Utah, five months after Barlow became pregnant by artificial insemination in 2001."
Doesn't sound like a gene problem for Barlow. Sounds like homosexuality was a choice in her life so what does that say for the "gay" gene. By the way this case should be a no-brainer. Jones had nothing to do with the birth. She contributed no genes and didn't carry the child to term. In my book she should get nothing. She has no genetic claim here at all.
Madness! I would have expected different from a judge in Utah.
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