Washington Post columnist: Lisa Miller needs to come out of hiding and face her chaos

In a Washington Post piece, columnist Petula Dvorak breaks down the Janet Jenkins/Lisa Miller custody fight in a way that is simple, to the point, and highly detrimental to religious right talking points:

Lisa Miller and Janet Jenkins were in their 30s when they met in Virginia, moved to Vermont, were joined in a civil union in 2000, bought a house and had a kid two years later.

As many gay folks will tell you, moves like this aren't spontaneous, crazy or happy-go-lucky. Legal issues, paperwork, money, explanations to parents, doctor appointments, fertility treatments and insemination attempts make having a child a considered and costly process.

But after going through all that and parenting the child for a year and a half, Miller and Jenkins split. Miller, who gave birth to Isabella, got primary custody and moved back to Virginia. Jenkins stayed in Vermont, and the supreme courts of both states treated it like a ho-hum breakup. There would be regular visits, child support payments and so forth.

After taking the cash and sending homemade cookies and cards to Isabella's other mommy for some time, Miller apparently conked herself on the head and decided that her whole lesbian life had been a big mistake. She began going to a conservative, evangelical church and had declared herself a born-again Christian.

She simply wanted to erase it all, make the past go away. She decided Jenkins was not the other mommy, homosexuality is wrong and the lovely old folks they'd been visiting and calling "mom-mom" and "pop-pop" (Jenkins's parents) couldn't contact the little girl they treated as their granddaughter.

And that point that seems to be always obscured by members of the religious right, especially the Liberty Counsel, who by the way, has refused to give a comment on Miller's kidnapping of Isabella.

Dvorak wraps up her excellent piece this way:

Miller's legal team said in court that a move to Vermont, with a new school and new friends, would be disruptive for a 7-year-old.

And going into hiding isn't?

I think it'll be a lot trickier to explain to a child why one mommy is in jail than why another mommy likes girls.

Lisa Miller, come out of hiding and face this like a mom.

I agree. All reasonable people should.

Hat tip to Box Turtle Bulletin

Related post:

Janet Jenkins pleads for help in finding her daughter