Many reasons have been given to deny lesbian or gay parents custody of their children but the 1987 case of S.E.G. vs R.A.G. in the Missouri Court of Appeals certainly came up with a jaw-dropper.

Following the break up of her marriage, the wife entered a lesbian relationship. Regrettably for her, she didn’t hide either her lesbianism or her relationship. And so it was that her failure to be closetted or apologetic about it lost her custody of her four children.

When the case went to the Missouri Court of Appeals, the presiding judge, Gary M. Gaertner, denied her appeal against the decision. He decided that her openness about “her alternative lifestyle”, as he described it, would expose her children to “peer pressure, teasing and possible ostracizing”. What was particularly galling about this statement was that it was made after the presentation of various articles clearly showing that a parent’s sexuality had no impact on the development of their children.

But Judge Gaertner wasn’t arguing that she would make a bad parent; indeed, he had stated that, “we are not presuming that she would make an uncaring mother.” He was saying that society’s prejudice against lesbians and gays (or, more to the point, what he believed to be society’s prejudice) was sufficient reason to deny the mother custody of her children.

In response to this, lawyers for the mother and the American Civil Liberties Union pointed to many cases where pandering to prejudices had been ruled unconstitutional. Judge Gaertner’s response was:

“[The defence] cites Palmore v Sidoti [an inter-racial marriage] where it was held “the Constitution cannot control such prejudices but neither can it tolerate them.”…Homosexuals are not offered the constitutional protection that race…national origin…and alienage…have been afforded.”

In other words, never mind the evidence about homosexual parents, never mind the fact that the law will not support prejudices against other groups; I’m denying homosexuals those same constitutional rights – on the basis of my unsupported opinion.