Family Law
Ga. Supreme Court Overturns Judge’s Order Banning Kids’ Contact with Gays
Posted Jun 16, 2009, 06:26 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
The Georgia Supreme Court has overturned a divorce court order barring a father’s three youngest children from having contact with his gay and lesbian friends.
Gay rights groups praised the decision, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The supreme court said there had been no showing in the 2007 divorce case of Eric Duane Mongerson and Sandy Kay Ehlers Mongerson that any gays or lesbians had behaved inappropriately in front of the children. The order by a Fayette County judge “assumes, without evidentiary support, that the children will suffer harm from any such contact,” the court said.
Beth Littrell, staff attorney for the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund in Atlanta, told the newspaper that the ruling ensures visitation decisions are “not based on the prejudices of individual judges.”
“The court has done the right thing today by focusing on the needs of the children instead of perpetuating stigma on the basis of sexual orientation,” she said.
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