Vermont Court OK's 'Two Mothers' Concept

The Vermont Supreme Court issued a landmark decision friday in a case about the parental rights of gay/lesbian couples. But first, a little background.

In 2000, Lisa Miller and Janet Jenkins traveled from their home in Virginia to Vermont, where they were joined as a couple in a civil ceremony. They went back to Virginia, and in 2002, Lisa Miller had a child by an unknown sperm donor, who Janet Jenkins helped to select. When the child, Isabella, was about 4 months old, the family moved to Vermont. One year later, Miller and Jenkins split up, and Miller moved back to Virginia.

At that time, Miller decided she was no longer a lesbian, and got a Virginia court to deny parental rights to Jenkins. Friday, the Vermont Supreme Court disagreed. They ruled that Isabella has two mothers, and denied Miller's request to end Jenkin's parental rights.

Now we have two states who have decided the opposite way on the same case. Looks like this matter may well find its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Looks like gay/lesbian parents have the same problems as other parents do when it comes to divorce. It is very easy to let anger for the other parent seep into child custody matters. Very few divorcing parents can seperate what is best for the child, from their anger and frustration with the other parent, and resort to using the child as a weapon against each other. This is just wrong - whether the parents are heterosexual or homosexual. The only reason to deny a parent's rights are for child abuse, but there is no abuse alleged in this case.

This child has had two parents for the last four years, and there is no reason to cut her off from either parent now. The Virginia court has not only denied civil rights to Jenkins, it is practicing a form of "legal abuse" toward the child.