Health Promo 03 (Getty) | Advocate.com
||  News  ||
 
October 02, 2008

Montana Judge Grants Joint Custody to Lesbian

A Montana judge Monday granted a woman joint custody of two children she and her former lesbian partner adopted when they were a couple. Michelle Kulstad sought joint custody of her 8-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter after she and former partner Barbara Maniaci split up in 2006, according to the Associated Press. Maniaci has since married and man and sought sole custody.

"To discriminate further against Ms. Kulstad because of her sexual preference in this day and age is no different than telling a person to go to the back of the bus because of her skin color," district judge Ed McLean wrote.

Kulstad and Maniaci lived together for 10 years before breaking up in 2006. In that time, they adopted two children -- a boy in 2004 and a girl in 2006.

Maniaci, who is now married to a man, says she and her husband should raise the children as they see fit because Kulstad was neither an adoptive parent nor a biological relative. She was represented by an attorney from the conservative Alliance Defense Fund.

Montana law does not address adoption by same-sex couples but allows stepparents (legal or assumed) to adopt children.

"By acknowledging Kulstad as a parent, the court today recognized that it would be both cruel and against established Montana law for her children to be denied the parental love and support Kulstad has shown them since they entered her home," Kulstad’s attorney Susan Ridgeway said in a press release.

Sixty-three percent of Montana voters approved a ban on same-sex marriage in 2004. (Michelle Garcia, The Advocate)

Reader Comments

These comments are reproduced as written by visitors to this Web site. They have not been edited for content, grammar, or spelling. The viewpoints appearing here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or views of advocate.com, The Advocate, or its affiliates.

  • Name: Lisa Luw
    Date posted: 2008-10-09 8:30 PM
    Hometown: New York

    Comment:

    What is sad is the a moral attitude everyone has in this day and age, has yet once again, hurt children. More convoluted situations created by "Make me happy this second" adults. Thats right, lets continue on this selfish parade and demoralize everyone and everything.


  • Name: Joe
    Date posted: 2008-10-02 11:50 AM
    Hometown: Fort Worth

    Comment:

    I'm glad the judge ruled in Ms. Kulstad's favor & am happy with the reasoning in his ruling, but sexual "preference"? The only party here who has a sexual "preference" appears to be Ms. Maniaci.


Back to top

Submit a comment for this story:

*Type your comment here (Required, 1000 characters max.):

*Name (Required): 

*Hometown (Required): 

*E-mail address: (Required, but will not be displayed)

Is this comment for publication? 
Yes   No

Daytime phone number: (Required for print publication only and will not be displayed)

Please enter the words you see in the box, in order and separated by a space. Doing so helps prevent automated programs from abusing this service.

  

If you would like to submit a comment for posting, please fill out the form above. 

All comments submitted via this form are subject to posting or publication. (To send a private letter to an Advocate editor or writer, please use the e-mail button at the top of the page, or use snail mail.) If you would like your comment considered for publication in The Advocate magazine, please include your full name, your city of residence, and a phone number where you can be reached during business hours so that we can confirm your identity. Your e-mail address and telephone number are strictly confidential and will not be shared or used for any purpose other than to contact you about your comment.

See the Contact page for sending comments for reasons other than responding to Advocate editorial and news stories.

Please note that comments sent by fax or snail mail are unlikely to be posted, although they will be considered for publication along with all letters received via e-mail or via this Web page. Comments that chiefly concern Advocate.com content will be considered for posting only on the Web site. The Advocate reserves the right to edit submitted comments for grammar, spelling, obscenities, or libel; we will, however, do our best to preserve the original comment's style and intent. Comments considered for publication in The Advocate magazine may also be edited for length.

More Exclusives
  • Letter From the Editor
    We’d like to unveil a big change: after nearly four decades as a biweekly magazine, we’re going monthly.
  • Parental Control
    San Francisco State researcher Caitlin Ryan explains the importance behind a study linking suicide and drug use among gay children to parental rejection.
  • Austerity Chic
    How novelist and performance artist Mike Albo gets by in lean times.
  • Hoping to "Wu" Michelle
    Dressing Michelle Obama in November was a game changer for designer Jason Wu. Now he has his sights set on the future first lady’s most high-profile event: Inauguration Day.
  • Boi From Troy Signs Off
    After five years of raising eyebrows on the Web, Boi From Troy blogger -- and gay Republican -- Scott Schmidt is signing off.
  • A Desert Journey
    The Mii Amo spa in Sedona, Ariz., is famous for packages designed to lead people through a spiritual as well as physical transformation. One writer relinquishes herself to the journey and recounts her days in one of the world's most beautiful destination resorts.
  • A List: Chris Evans
    Chris Evans is a serious actor but that doesn’t mean he wants you to stop objectifying him.
  • Great American Couple
    In an exclusive excerpt from his new book, Hollywood Bohemians: Transgressive Sexuality and the Selling of the Movieland Dream, Brett L. Abrams explores the relationship between Cary Grant and Randolph Scott, who led homosexual lives right under everyone's nose.
  • Mormons Gone Wild
    After one man undresses missionaries for his calendar, LDS Church–owned Brigham Young University strips him of his degree.
  • Constructive Impatience
    Stung by the Warren decision, GLAAD's former executive director Joan Garry offers the Obama transition team some sage advice.
  • Boxer Goes Trans for Eli Stone
    Often perceived as male by confused casting agents, boxer-body builder turned actor Dallas Malloy felt a deep connection to the trans minister she plays on Eli Stone.
  • Mamma Mia! Rises Again
    Meryl Streep and company managed to top Harry Potter and Titanic at the U.K. box office, and now Mamma Mia! is poised to break similar records on DVD. Director Phyllida Lloyd talked to Advocate.com about bringing one of the biggest musicals of all time to the big screen.
  • The Other White Meat
    As one of the subjects of the documentary about the drag pageant circuit, Pageant, opening in select theaters, and one of the contestants on RuPaul's Drag Race, premiering next month on Logo, Victoria "Porkchop" Parker may not look or act like your typical female impersonator, but make no mistake, she is one of the best.
  • The Religious Defense
    In an excerpt from her new book, Bulletproof Faith: A Spiritual Survival Guide for Gay and Lesbian Christians, author Candace Chellew-Hodge incorporates the wisdom of Xena: Warrior Princess to illustrate her theories as to how gay and lesbian people of faith can protect themselves from those who attack their views.
  • Photo Finish
    Did Prop. 8 backlash cause art censorship -- or its reversal -- at Brigham Young University? Could be, as BYU photography student J. Michael Wiltbank found when his contribution to a two-week-long art exhibition -- eight pairs of benign portraits, each depicting an LGBT-identified BYU student alongside a supportive friend -- had been removed.
  • The Divine Miss M.
    Since the death of performer Wayland Flowers in 1988, his over-the-top puppet creation Madame has been seen only sporadically. But with the launch of her new casino tour, Madame is back.
  • Whither NLGJA?
    The leading professional organization for LGBT journalists is facing a crisis that threatens its very survival. In a changing media landscape and a tough economy, how does a small nonprofit live up to its mission and retain members?
  • The Road to Equality
    Barbara Boxer, the U.S. senator from California, understands why her gay constituents are furious over Rick Warren's role in the inauguration -- it feels like Proposition 8 redux.