In Oral Argument at Pennsylvania Superior Court on Tuesday, Lambda Legal Will Fight for Lesbian Mom Seeking Long-Overdue Visitation with Her Child

(Pittsburg, February 3, 2005) — Lambda Legal will go back to the Pennsylvania Superior Court on Tuesday, February 8, at 1:00 p.m. to argue that a lower court was wrong to deny a lesbian mother visitation with her child after her ex-partner (the child’s biological mother) worked to alienate the child from her.

“Decades of well established law in Pennsylvania make it clear that visitation shouldn’t be denied just because one parent alienated the child from the other parent. This case shouldn’t be decided any differently simply because the child’s parents are lesbians,” said Alphonso David, Staff Attorney at Lambda Legal who will argue the case. “We’re asking the state’s highest court to overturn a dangerous and misguided ruling from the lower-court that sends a troubling message and jeopardizes important parent-child relationships.”

The parents in this case, identified by their initials to protect the privacy of the child, were in a long-term relationship and raised the child together for three years. After their breakup in 1996, L.R.M., the biological mother, refused to allow T.B. visits with their daughter, despite T.B.’s daily parental role in the child’s life.

Represented by Lambda Legal in the earlier stages of the case, T.B. was declared to be the child’s parent by both the Pennsylvania Superior Court in 2000 and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 2001. In a 5-2 ruling, the Supreme Court recognized the lesbian mother’s legal standing as a parent, applying the same rules that the court has applied to other families. The court said a lesbian or gay parent may seek visitation or custody of a child, even if there is no biological or legal tie, if she or he assumed a parental status and performed parental duties over time with the consent of the legal parent.

The case was sent back down to the lower court to determine visitation and custody arrangements. In a disturbing ruling, the lower court said that the biological mother was so successful at alienating the child that it was in the child’s best interest to remain separated from her other mother.

“The actions of the biological mother are regrettable but that does not mean that a court should reward her for alienating the child from the other parent. Our client very much wants to be a part of her child’s life and just because the biological mother objects to contact doesn’t mean the alienation should be allowed to continue,” said David.

Who: Alphonso David, Staff Attorney for Lambda Legal.

What: Oral arguments in T.B. v. L.R.M.

When: Tuesday, February 8, at 1:00 p.m.

Where: Pennsylvania Superior Court, 801 City County Building, Pittsburg, PA

*** Alphonso David, Staff Attorney at Lambda Legal will be presenting the oral arguments in the case and will be available to the press for comment immediately after the court proceedings on Tuesday.