Parental Rights Trump Gay Activism

J.J. Jackson* | February 18, 2007

There is still hope that our courts are rational with a rulling this week by the Utah Supreme Court where the rights of a mother over the whims of her former lesbian lover were upheld.

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Supreme Court today affirmed the parental rights of Cheryl Barlow, the mother of a 5-year-old child, granting Barlow’s request to reverse a lower court decision that had granted parental standing to her former partner, a lesbian political activist.

“Protecting the well-being of a small child trumps the desire of a legal stranger to usurp the care and protection of that child’s mom,” said ADF Senior Counsel Joe Infranco. “The Utah Supreme Court ruled correctly in affirming Cheryl Barlow’s right as a natural parent and putting an end to visitation with a woman who has no legitimate legal relationship to the child.”

“When the trial court granted visitation rights to a legal stranger in a non-marital relationship, they attempted to create a new ‘right’ that had not existed before,” Infranco explained. “The creation of this new ‘right’ would not only have threatened the emotional well-being of this child, but potentially numerous others caught in a similar situation.”

Good for Utah.

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