Pennsylvania Court Rethinks View on Gays in Custody Disputes

In a long over due move, a Pennsylvania appellate court moved the state into the 21st century and overruled a 25 year precedent that allowed one's sexual orientation be used against a gay parent in child custody cases. Sadly, in most Virginia Courts homophobia is alive and well and it seems only the minority of judges do not crucify LGBT parents whenever and however possible. Legitimate studies have shown no difference in children raised by gay parents, yet bald faced religious prejudice remains all too often in the courtroom. Here are story highlights from the Times Leader on this important step towards basic fairness:
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A Pennsylvania appellate court has rejected a 25-year-old legal precedent and ruled that a parent's homosexual relationship cannot be used against the parent in determining child custody.
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The eight-judge Superior Court panel issued its decision last month in a custody battle between a mother and father who were identified only by their initials.
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It also reversed the lower court ruling that awarded the father primary custody of their daughter, and granted the appeal of the mother to continue shared custody.
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In doing so, the judges said a 1985 Superior Court decision that said a parent must prove that their gay relationship is not detrimental to the child.
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That presumption "is based upon unsupported preconceptions and prejudices _ including that the sexual orientation of a parent will have an adverse effect on the child, and that the traditional heterosexual household is superior to that of the household of a parent involved in a same sex relationship," Judge Christine Donohue wrote in the Jan. 21 opinion.
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The state Supreme Court also advises against relying on presumptions in deciding child custody cases between the parents, Donohue wrote.
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A three-member panel, voting 2-1, dismissed the notion that a "homosexual relationship could ever be the equal of the traditional family as a suitable family arrangement, and indicated that it was 'inconceivable' that a child could be exposed to a homosexual relationship 'and not suffer some emotional disturbance, perhaps severe,'" Donohue wrote.