A constant problem faced by LGBT Americans is the difficulty of getting equal justice in the courts of law. In theory judges are supposed to be unbiased - in Virginia, in fact, Canon 3.B. of the Canons of Judicial Conduct purports to obligate judges to be unbiased against individuals before the court based on sexual orientation and requires that they recuse themselves if they cannot be unbiased - but theory and reality are two very different things. The sad truth is that LGBT plaintiffs and defendants get unequal justice daily based on the religious bias and prejudice of judges. My own divorce case is a case in point, so I know what really happens notwithstanding alleged lack of bias on the part of judges. A court case in Georgia highlights the issue even further: In that case, a gay father is challenging a clause in his divorce decree which prohibits him from "exposing his children to his homosexual partners and friends." Yes, it's a reprehensible situation but one that is an everyday occurrence when religious based discrimination is improperly allowed to intertwine with the civil laws and court proceedings. It is a travesty that needs to end. Here are highlights from the Southern Voice on the Georgia case:*
Lambda Legal filed an amicus brief in the Georgia Supreme Court Tuesday arguing that a restriction in a gay father’s Fayette County child custody arrangement should be dismissed. Eric Mongerson, who took his case before the state’s highest court in January, is challenging a clause which prohibits him from "exposing his children to his homosexual partners and friends." Lambda Legal argues “that restrictions on custody arrangements should not be determined based on sexual orientation and that no evidence exists that contact with gay acquaintances of their father is harmful,” according to a press release from the gay legal group.
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"What the ban does do is perpetuate prejudice and stigma against an entire group of people based solely on their sexual orientation, and that is just plain wrong,” she added. The order “hinders Mongerson’s ability to maintain his relationship with his children as he is under a court order to treat other gay people as pariahs based solely on their sexual orientation," Littrell said. Eric Mongerson also challenged several other decrees from his 2005 divorce from Sandy Mongerson, including a court order that he pay his ex-wife $800 a month in alimony.
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“There is no evidence that he and his friends had any inappropriate behavior in front of the children,” Eric Mongerson’s attorney, Hannibal Heredia, told Supreme Court justices last month. “There just isn’t any evidence in this record to justify this.”
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Mongerson, who is granted four hours of visitation with his children each week, said the divorce decree is far-reaching. “In general, that will never allow me to have my children present in front of any friends, whether they’re gay or straight — no one hands you a card saying are you gay, straight, heterosexual, bi, whatever,” Mongerson said.
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Sandy Mongerson and her attorney, Lance McMillian, . . . said the former couple’s children were in therapy because of their father’s homosexual conduct, and argued that Eric Mongerson should focus on spending quality time with his children alone.
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Heredia, the father’s attorney, argued that alimony, in addition to the child support Eric Mongerson is paying for his three minor children, forces him to live on only $420 a month. The court has up to six months to rule.
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