Victory for Lesbian Mom in Ohio: Marriage Ban Does Not Block Child Custody

Add another court victory to the recent Prop 8 and DOMA wins. The Eighth District Court of Appeals in Ohio last week rejected an attempt to use the state’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage to prevent a lesbian mother from sharing custody of her children with her former partner.

Lambda Legal, which represents Rita Goodman in the case against her former partner Siobhan LaPiana, reports that the two women were in a committed relationship for 10 years, during which they planned and had two boys. LaPiana gave birth to them, but both women parented equally, and even signed an agreement committing to do so. The boys, Lambda says, “love and rely on both of them as their mothers.”

After the couple separated, Goodman remained involved with the boys for over five years, until LaPiana began a relationship with a man, at which time (according to court documents) she started to restrict Goodman’s time with them. Goodman filed a lawsuit, and a trial court ordered visitation for her.

LaPiana appealed, claiming that Ohio’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage prevents courts from permitting former lesbian partners to share custody, and that the trial court unconstitutionally infringed on her right to autonomy as a parent. The appeals court rejected both arguments.

Lambda summarizes:

This decision means that Ohio’s antigay constitutional amendment has no impact on Ohio courts’ authority to order shared custody between former same-sex partners and that, because LaPiana agreed to co-parent her children from birth with Goodman, it is constitutional for courts to step in to protect the children’s bonded relationship to Goodman.

The court’s decision hits the key point: “When a dispute arises, as it did in here, courts must do what they have always done—decide what is in the best interest of the children. That is exactly what the trial court did in this case.”

Goodman told Lambda, “I made a promise to take care of my sons always—and I’m just trying to make good on that promise.”

One other poignant note from the ruling is that “Goodman’s mother testified that the boys were her grandchildren and they always had been.” Her husband had died before one of the boys was born; the other had been his only grandson. His tombstone reads, “beloved husband, father, and grandfather.”

Anti-LGBT laws and rulings harm more than just LGBT parents and our children, for indeed, it is harder and harder to set firm boundaries on just what constitutes an “LGBT family.” Inequality sends out shock waves that ripple across our society. Kudos to the Ohio court for damping those waves and doing the right thing.