The Pennsylvania
supreme court will allow a lesbian to maintain custody
of twins borne by her ex-partner, Ellen Boring,
according to Lambda Legal.
The court let
stand a lower court ruling that Patricia Jones is a
better parent for the children than her former partner of 14
years. According to Lambda Legal, the two planned to
raise children together and had twins. When the couple
split in 2001, the women were allowed joint
custody, with Boring as the primary physical
custodian. The organization reports that Boring's "history
of contempt in observing the visitation schedule set
by the court and her attempts to unilaterally remove
the children" from the state caused Jones to file for
custody, which a trial court awarded her.
Boring appealed
to Pennsylvania's superior court, claiming that as
the biological parent, she was entitled to primary
physical custody unless she was found to be unfit. The
superior court disagreed, determining that once
someone has been granted parental rights, he or she
need not prove the biological parent is unfit in order to
obtain custody of a child, a Lambda Legal press
release said. The superior court also ruled that in
custody cases, all nonbiological parents, gay or straight,
must be judged by the same standards. Boring appealed the
superior court's ruling to the state supreme court,
which on Wednesday declined to hear the case, thus
letting custody remain with Jones.
Jones was
represented by Lambda Legal, the National Center for Lesbian
Rights, the Center for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights, and
Maureen Gatto of the Dorian, Goldstein, Wisniewski,
and Orchinik law firm of Bensalem, Pa. (The
Advocate)