Gay Dad Fights For Right To Live With His Partner

A gay father won custody of his child, but a Virginia court added the stipulation that his live-in partner would have to move out. The father has now moved to Maryland and is asking the Maryland Court of Special Appeals to overturn Virginia's stipulation.

Ulf Hedberg lived with his partner and his son for five and a half years while the custody battle was waged. Virginia sided with him in awarding custody of his son, but forced Mr. Hedberg's partner to move out of the household.

Mr. Hedberg claims that after living with him and his partner for five and a half years, the sudden change is a hardship on his son. Mr. Hedberg's son was four years old when his partner moved in and the relationship is the only family his son remembers.

Compunding the problem is he and his son had to move from a suburban home in Virginia to a smaller apartment in Montgomery County, Maryland. The move was necessary because with his partner gone, they were no longer a two-income family and Mr. Hedberg couldn't afford the lifestyle both he and his son had become accustomed to while his partner shared the household.

Mr. Hedberg claims that Virginia sodomy laws formed the basis for the stipulation, but since the US Supreme Court ruled in 2003 that sodomy laws were unconstitutional, he wants Virginia's order revoked and allow his partner to move back in with him.

The mother claims the order has nothing to do with same sex relationships and everything to do with setting decency standards for her child.

"What has come out is that the Virginia court considered the best interest and said: 'In this situation, we're not going to have two people who are not married living together,"' said Lindevaldsen, an attorney with Liberty Counsel, a nonprofit group that focuses on traditional family and religious liberties.

"This is not about the fact that they're in a same-sex relationship," she told reporters after the hearing.

The mother now lives in Florida.

Ref: Fox 45 News - Baltimore,MD

Mark's Editorial comment:

First, let's blast the news for not giving us the full story. The father wins custody. The mother is worried about decency standards. Why didn't the mother win custody? Why was the stipulation added and not challenged then?

Second, let's blast Mom. The whore fled to Florida and left her son behind. Oh yeah, Mom, you're the pillar of moral decency standards. You let your son live in a gay household for five and a half years. What's your beef now? I suspect you don't give a rat's patootie about the welfare of your son, but you do care about making life as miserable as you can for your ex.

Isn't that the real story, Mom?

The article does give one good example of why gay marriage should be legal. If Mr. Hedberg could marry his partner, there would be no issue before the court. And no, civil union agreements wouldn't do. Separate but equal never is. Knowing how uptight Virginia is about sex, civil union or not, this case would still be in front of a judge.

If gay marriage were legal, then the issue would become one of courts being able to approve of the moral decency of one's new spouse. Married heteros wouldn't like that so a case like this one will never happen in a hetero relationship.

Keep gay marriage illegal or separate as a civil union, the moral decency charge could always be brought up, custody battles could be lost, and as always, the real loser will be the child or children involved.