Religious right continues to exploit custody case

From People for the American Way's Right Wing Watch comes the news that religious right groups are continuing to exploit the custody case of Lisa Miller and Janet Jenkins.

Jenkins and Miller at one time were involved in a relationship and agreed to raise a child together. Miller supposedly became "ex-gay" and has resorted to ugly tactics to keep the child (Isabella) away from Jenkins, despite the fact that a court has allowed Jenkins to have visits with their daughter.

The case is a cause celebre with the Liberty Counsel and other religious right groups. They claim that since Miller gave birth to the child, Jenkins has no right to be in her life. They have even created a webpage and an ad:

Called the Protect Isabella Coalition, the grassroots effort aims to create awareness of what it labels "judicial tyranny" in the child custody/visitation case involving Miller, Isabella's biological mother, and Vermonter Janet Jenkins, her lesbian former partner. The group has a Web site -- www.ProtectIsabella.com -- and also has produced television and radio public awareness ads.

"The road toward justice has taken a long and winding path, but we believe the courts are getting closer to addressing the core issues in this case," said Mathew D. Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law. "The people of Virginia have plainly spoken in favor of traditional marriage and have rejected same-sex unions. The Virginia courts must now uphold the Constitution."

The Protect Isabella Coalition is asking fellow Virginians to contact their state delegates and senators and ask them to uphold the state's marriage laws, rein in judicial tyranny and stand up for Isabella.

Of course the Liberty Counsel will omit details of the case that doesn't suit their agenda. In December 2008, Newsweek magazine featured a long article about the case. These are those facts:

Miller and Jenkins agreed to raise Isabella together.

When the two broke up, Miller agreed to allow Jenkins to have visitation rights. Jenkins even paid child support. Miller allegedly began keeping Isabella away from Jenkins. Even now, she refuses to allow her to have unsupervised time with Isabella even though she has been ordered to.

The entire controversy is solely because Miller will not allow Jenkins to have unsupervised time with Isabella. Jenkins mainly won her case due to the Federal Kidnapping Prevention Law.

Miller has claimed she witnessed Isabella engage in disturbing behavior after vists with Jenkins. The claims were investigated by Virginia's Child Protective Services and were deemed "unfounded."

I sincerely hope that this case ends in what is good for Isabella. But something needs to be said about the values of the religious right groups who continue to exploit it for their own ends.