RULING IN CHILE FORCES GAYS TO CHOOSE BETWEEN CLOSET, PARENTING RIGHTS: From Knight Ridder
 
[I note that the father in this case is also unable or unwilling to raise his children within marriage, and is also sending messages about sex, parenting, and marriage that conflict with "the Roman Catholic Church's definition of traditional families." --Eve]
 
Judge Karen Atala had the love of her three daughters and commanded the respect of Chilean lawyers arguing cases in her courtroom. Now, all across the deeply conservative Andean nation, she's known simply as "the lesbian judge."
 
Atala became an unwitting public figure and international gay-rights symbol when Chile's Supreme Court, in a controversial 3-2 decision May 31, overruled two lower courts and awarded custody of her children to her ex-husband, Jaime Lopez.
 
The small-town judge wasn't an alcoholic, promiscuous or a negligent mother--reasons Chilean courts usually place children in the custody of their fathers. Atala's "grave" mothering mistake was admitting she's a lesbian who took a partner. In South America's most conservative nation, the court ruling sought to bolster the Roman Catholic Church's definition of traditional families. Monsignor Cristian Contreras, an auxiliary bishop in Santiago, praised the "commonsense" approach of the judges.
 
Gay rights groups have been galvanized by the decision, and Chile is seeing a debate like the one under way in the United States over state-sanctioned marriage and the inheritance rights of same-sex couples. How it plays out in Chile might affect gay rights throughout Latin America. ...
 
De Ramon said her partner was seeking treatment for a deep depression that followed the loss of her daughters. Atala's girls--aged 9, 5 and 4--now are living with Lopez. Lopez, a lawyer, has since had his new girlfriend move in.
 
more

posted by Eve at 6:12 PM | Link |

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home