The Arkansas
court of appeals ruled Wednesday that a child
should be transferred from his lesbian mother's custody to
his father's--but the majority opinion asserted
the change had nothing to do with the mom's sexuality.
The judges upheld a lower court ruling removing Lisa
Holmes's 8-year-old son from her custody but said the
decision was because of Holmes's instability as a
parent, the Associated Press reports.
"The record is
replete with evidence of appellant's lack of
financial, residential, and employment stability," Judge
Wendell Griffen wrote in the opinion, referring to
Holmes. "Appellant has had multiple residences....
This evidences little effort by appellant to maintain
a stable life for her son."
Holmes divorced her son's father, Joseph Holmes,
in 2001 and subsequently began dating women,
including her current romantic partner, Kimberly
Duncan. A court order issued at the time of the divorce
prevented both Holmes and her ex-husband from living
with a partner outside of marriage while they raised
their son, and a circuit court ruled in 2005 that
Lisa Holmes was in violation of that agreement.
At a court hearing, Joseph Holmes said he was
entitled to raise his son in a "heterosexual
environment," while his ex-wife conceded that her
monthly income as a substitute teacher was unstable,
according to the AP. The court ruled in favor of the
father, saying that courts "have never condoned a
parent's promiscuous conduct or lifestyle when such
lifestyle has been in the presence of a child."
Although the opinion never referenced her sexual
orientation directly, in her appeal Holmes said her
sexuality should have no bearing on the custody
dispute whatsoever. (The Advocate)
