Kentucky Appeals Court bans judges from granting lesbians stepparent status
“It is not this or any court’s role to judge whether the legislature’s prohibition of same-sex marriage … is morally defensible or socially enlightened. Nor is it this or any court’s role … to craft any means by which the legal consequences of such a prohibition may be negated or avoided…. Unfortunately, the parties’ sexuality preference or some other sympathy for their plight impaired the way legal professionals viewed the law.”
Judge Glenn Acree of the Kentucky Court of Appeals handing down a harshly-worded, 3-0 judgment against a lower court’s ruling that allowed a lesbian to adopt her partner’s child. The Appeals Court declared that stepparent status cannot be granted in Kentucky to a person who is not married to the child’s parent. This disappointing ruling appears to apply to both unmarried straight and gay couples, but it is especially hurtful to gay families because gay marriage has been banned in the state of Kentucky through a constitutional amendment. (Courier-Journal)
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