W.Va. Court Awards
Gay Partner Custody
By AP from the
NYTimes on the Web, June 18, 2005
CHARLESTON, W.Va. June 17 --
The state's highest court on Friday gave custody of a 5-year-old boy to his dead
mother's lesbian partner, despite the protests of the woman's blood relatives.
Tina Burch had appealed to the West Virginia Supreme Court for custody of the
son of her partner, Christina Smarr, who died in a 2002 car accident.
Within hours of her death, Smarr's relatives had given the child to his
grandparents.
A family court gave custody to Burch, but a circuit court ruled that she didn't
have the legal rights to her former partner's child.
Jim Douglas, Burch's attorney, argued that the boy's biological father, who was
not involved in the child's life, supported Burch having custody.
''Both of the child's biological parents not only acquiesced in, but actively
fostered, the relationship,'' Justice Robin Davis wrote in the majority opinion.
The opinion said a ''psychological parent'' could be a biological, adoptive,
foster or stepparent, as long as the parental relationship began with the
consent of the legal parent or guardian.
The American Civil Liberties Union praised the ruling, saying it is the first
time the court has recognized a gay person's right to be declared a
''psychological parent.''
An attorney for the grandparents did not immediately return a phone message
Friday.
|
