Lesbian mother gets custody

Press, 18 February 1983, Page 8

Lesbian mother gets custody

NZPA London England’s Court of Appeal has ruled that two girls would have a more stable life with their lesbian mother and her woman lover, rather than with theirfather and his new wife. Mr Ormrod and Lord Justice Eveleigh decided that the sisters, aged seven and eight, should live with their mother, but their father should have access to them. The mother had become a “practising homosexual," living most of her time-with another woman and "sharing a bed and so on,” said Mr Justice Ormrod. Welfare officers considered that the girls would

probably have a more stable life with their mother, and the girls wanted to live with her. said his Honour. ‘ The fact that a parent was a homosexual was no reason to refuse care and control of a child, although it was a factor to be taken into account as homosexual relationships were often less stable than heterosexual relationships, said his Honour. The ruling upheld a judge’s decision at Bath County Court last December that the girls should go to their mother. The county judge had reversed a decision he had made in 1980 that they should be brought up “in an ordinary household.” said his Honour.