Gay Divorcee Gets Rights Of Visitation
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
RUTLAND, Vt. — A Vermont judge has dissolved the civil union between two former lesbian lovers and awarded custody of their 5-year-old daughter to one, with regular visitation for the other.
For three years, the girl’s biological mother, Lisa Miller, who has renounced homosexuality, has been fighting efforts by her former partner, Janet Jenkins, to maintain contact with the girl, Isabella.
The courts have consistently ruled in Ms. Jenkins’s favor. In April, the Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of a decision by the Vermont Supreme Court awarding Ms. Jenkins visitation rights. In his decision, Rutland County Family Court Judge William Cohen awarded custody of Isabella to Ms. Miller, who lives in Winchester, Va. He also granted regular visitation to Ms. Jenkins, who lives in Fair Haven. In 2000, Ms. Miller and Ms. Jenkins traveled to Vermont, where they were joined in a civil union.
