PA Court Grants Visitation Rights to Lesbian Ex-partner

March 29, 2005

ERIE, PA — A woman should be able to visit her former partner's child, even though the birth mother does not want to her to do so, a Pennsylvania appeals court has ruled.

The parents in this case, identified by their initials to protect the privacy of the child, were in a long-term relationship and raised the child together for three years.

After their breakup in 1996, L.R.M., the biological mother, refused to allow T.B. visits with their daughter, despite T.B.'s daily parental role in the child's life.

The three-judge appeals court ruling decision reverses a lower court ruling that said that the biological mother was so successful at alienating the child that it was in the child's best interest to remain forever separated from her other mother.

In its ruling, the appeals court said the lower court abused its discretion in denying visitation to T.B. on this basis.

The appeals court remanded the case to the lower court to evaluate the best interests of the child without regard to alienation.

In the court's ruling, Judge Michael T. Joyce wrote, Imagine a scenario where the same premise is applied to spouses. It is inconceivable that an embittered spouse who successfully estranges the children from the other spouse, to the point where the other spouse is unknown to the children, should be rewarded by a determination that it shall be in the best interest of the children not to have any relationship at all with the alienated spouse because of the custodial spouse's feelings. The preposterousness of this scenario is equally applicable to the case at bar, despite Appellant's non-traditional status.

The ruling also lifts a stay put in place in 1997 that prohibited T.B. from seeing her daughter until the matter was fully resolved.

This is a heartwarming victory for our client that will also protect many other families, gay and straight, said Alphonso David, Staff Attorney at Lambda Legal who argued the case.

The court valued this parent-child relationship the same as any other, and acted to preserve it without regard to sexual orientation or the other parent's bitterness.

T.B. has only seen her daughter once since 1997. The child is now 11.

T.B. will stop visitation if, after six months, the child no longer wishes to see her or if a therapist believes it isn't a good idea to continue, David said.