{"id":3120,"date":"2008-10-04T07:00:17","date_gmt":"2008-10-04T12:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/?p=3120"},"modified":"2008-10-04T07:41:11","modified_gmt":"2008-10-04T12:41:11","slug":"same-sex-custody-case-reaches-state-supreme-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/daily-astrology\/same-sex-custody-case-reaches-state-supreme-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Same-sex custody case reaches State Supreme Court"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear Friend and Reader,<\/p>\n

As I watched highlights of the vp debates on YouTube, I was struck with sadness after hearing Biden and Palin’s exchange on the topic of gay marriage.<\/p>\n

[youtube]http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=R9ZYWY3UnNk[\/youtube]<\/p>\n

Neither of them has any interest in full legal equality for same-sex couples. I knew their policies already, but to hear it stated so firmly: “no,” made me feel quite worthless and undeserving. I wasn’t alive for the debates over Loving v. Virginia<\/a><\/em>, which legalized marriage between different ethnicities, but I’d imagine I know how they feel.<\/p>\n

I’m not particularly interested in marriage myself<\/em>, it’s more the fact that everyone around me — from Britney Spears and Keven Federline to my close college buddy who works as a dominatrix and recently hooked up with a much older guy who doesn’t wake up until six in the evening — has the right to get hitched and I don’t.<\/p>\n

Why are they allowed into this “sanctimonious” institution when measly old me, in the same, mostly-stable partnership for three years, sits around the family table with all these other couples (who are straight), and babysits for her siblings’ children, but is stuck in a group with Ellen Degeneres and her lovely wife (only in the state of California) Portia, with no right to “make it honest” in any nationally-recognized sense?<\/p>\n

This brings me to the children part. <\/p>\n

It’s simple to nod your head in agreement when a politician talks about the right to visit your partner in the hospital, or about rights to a home after a partner, who’s the technical owner, dies without a solid will. But, when children get into the mix, things get complicated because, as any parent can testify, once kids get involved it’s not about the adults anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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\"Planet<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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Gay adoption<\/a> rights in North America.<\/em><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

In the United States, with the exception of about six states, same-sex couples can’t adopt children. In fact, there are a few states that have legislated to make it completely illegal. To put this in the context of your neighbors next door (tell your partner you were right — they’re not<\/em> sisters), if Sue and Carol have been living together for 15 years, and Sue decides to carry a baby, Carol has no right to that child: even though she woke up in the middle of the night for feedings and changings, rushed the baby to the emergency room when she fell during recess and needed stitches, and spent hours putting together the race-car bed they purchased from Ikea. (The instructions seemed simple enough at the time…)<\/p>\n

This time, it’s not Sue and Carol involved in a custody battle, it’s Barbara Maniaci and her acrimonious ex- Michelle Kulstad<\/a>. The couple lived together for 10 years in Montana, and raised two children (now five and nine) in a home Barbara owned. Barbara adopted them as a single parent. It’s unclear whether Michelle ever tried to adopt the kids, but in Montana, there is no law <\/a>placing it squarely as legal or illegal to do so.<\/p>\n

Barbara and Michelle split up in 2006, and Michelle stayed in the house. Barbara left with the children, and now lives with a man. Michelle sued for joint custody, on the grounds that she had an active parenting role and that it was in the best interest of the children to maintain that relationship. Earlier this week, the judge ruled in Michelle’s favor. On Thursday, Barbara filed an appeal for sole custody with the state Supreme Court. Her lawyer’s argument: “Kulstad has no legal or biological ties to the children and say the judge ruled in her favor simply because ‘the two women lived together for a period of time’.”<\/p>\n

Barbara, “as the ‘legally adoptive’ parent claimed that Kulstad had no custodial rights to their children, that she should not be granted visitation rights, and that she was a ‘legal stranger’ to the children,” according to Q Salt Lake<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Montana, as of yet, has made no decisions in favor, or against, gay marriage, partnership rights, adoption, co-adoption, etc. This case between Barbara Maniaci and Michelle Kulstad will force them to make a decision regarding parental rights for same-sex couples: one of the most contentious issues when it comes to gay rights.<\/p>\n

As an example, the Republic of Ireland is currently ironing out the details on a Civil Partnership Act, which grants basically all the rights of marriage to same-sex couples, except for parenting.<\/p>\n

I don’t know why people fear same-sex couples raising children: when it comes to “safety,” for example, there are, minimally<\/em>, an equal amount of straight and gay sexual abusers, if not more heterosexuals<\/a>. And, when you’ve just about got a snowball’s chance in hell at being raised by two parents these days, you’re pretty lucky to get them in any loving partnership as a twosome.<\/p>\n

But finally, and most importantly, we’re not going anywhere. Legislating against same-sex couples is only hurting the children. We won’t stop adopting, or raising kids from previously failed partnerships or creating supportive loving homes.<\/p>\n

We’re not any better than anyone else: all I’m saying is we’re not any worse. So, for god’s sake, stop treating us like lepers in the legal system. We just want the same rights as the rest of the country.<\/p>\n

Best of luck to Montana’s Supreme Court,<\/p>\n

\"Rachel<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear Friend and Reader, As I watched highlights of the vp debates on YouTube, I was struck with sadness after hearing Biden and Palin’s exchange on the topic of gay marriage. [youtube]http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=R9ZYWY3UnNk[\/youtube] Neither of them has any interest in full legal equality for same-sex couples. I knew their policies already, but to hear it stated … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":""},"categories":[49,1],"tags":[36,350,52,349,351,352,117,348],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3120"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3120\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}