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 Woman Argues Ohio Anti-Gay Amendment Bars Ex
From Sharing Custody
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: March 26, 2008 - 5:00 pm ET
(Columbus, Ohio) An Ohio woman says the
state's ban on same-sex marriage is grounds for barring her ex-partner from
sharing custody with her son.
Thursday the Court of Appeals will hear her
case. Last June a judge in Columbus ruled that the amendment has no
bearing on a signed agreement between Denise Fairchild and Therese Leach
that they would share custody of the boy, now aged 11.
The dispute over custody began in 2005 after the
women ended their relationship.
After their son was born in 1996, both women
parented him. In order to ensure that Leach had a protected legal relationship
with the child, the two women signed a joint custody agreement. Such
agreements were approved by the Ohio Supreme Court in 2001.
That same year an Ohio court approved the joint
custody agreement stating they would share custody.
After Leach and Fairchild broke up, Fairchild
sought to terminate the custody agreement, citing the 2004 state amendment
limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples.
In addition to banning same-sex marriage the
amendment, known as Issue 1, says the state "and its political subdivisions
shall not create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried
individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance or
effect of marriage."
Lawyers for Fairchild argued in Franklin County's
domestic relations court that the amendment extends to adoption.
Magistrate Darrolyn Krippel ruled that the
amendment to the state constitution could not apply in the case
"Granting custody of a minor child to a
nonparent is done every day," Krippel said in a written opinion.
The judgment noted that family courts regularly
settle custody disputes between unmarried people and even people of the same
sex.
"The granting of custody to these nonparents
is not against public policy," Krippel's ruling said.
Fairchild is seeking relief from the Court of
Appeals.
Leach is represented by Lambda Legal.
"The antigay amendment limiting marriage
pertains only to adult relationships --- and has no effect on relationships
between parents and children," said Lambda Attorney Camilla Taylor.
"Shared custody agreements have protected
families --- regardless of whether the parents are gay or not, married or
unmarried --- for 150 years. The other side's attempt to use an antigay
constitutional amendment to rip apart protections that thousands of families
have relied on for a century and a half in Ohio is a striking example of the
abuses that can result when discrimination is written into the
constitution."
Taylor said that Fairchild's argument potentially
would put many other Ohio families at risk.
Whichever way the court rules the case is likely
to be appealed to the state Supreme Court.
©365Gay.com 2008
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