Domestic Partnership News Archive
September 01 - September 06, 2000

Friday, September 1, 2000

Texas judge bars father's partner from home while child is visiting

A story published today in the Dallas Voice reports that a gay father and his partner are headed to a Texas courtroom  to fight what they described as an uphill custody battle.

Terry Farmer is seeking custody of his 5-year-old daughter from a previous marriage. The case has been assigned to state District Judge Bill Peek of the 202nd District Court in Bowie County.

In a previous court session, Judge Peek has described the relationship between Farmer and his gay partner, Erik Henriksen, as "very wrong." Peek suggested that exposure to the relationship would "corrupt" Farmer's daughter, according to a court transcript.

Terry Farmer said he first came out to his ex-wife, Tara, when she was pregnant. The two decided to stay together, however, for the sake of their unborn child.

The custody battle began in April 1998 when the couple separated. Tara Farmer took their daughter and returned to her parents' home in Texarkana. He and Henriksen then moved from Washington to Dallas to be closer to his daughter.

An original but temporary visitation arrangement permitted Terry Farmer to have his daughter for nine consecutive days at the end of each month. But after the child's second visit to her father's Dallas home, Tara Farmer discovered that her ex-husband was living with Henrickson. As a result, Tara Farmer refused to permit further visits by the daughter.

Terry Farmer then took his ex-wife back to court. The court ordered visits to continue, but with less frequency. The court's order, still in force, permits Terry Farmer to have visitation only for 48 hours every other weekend, from 6 p.m. Friday to 6 p.m. Sunday.

The final custody arrangement will be decided in an as-yet unscheduled jury trial. At that trial, Terry Farmer could get complete custody of his daughter, which is what he wants, or he could get joint custody, with visitation schedules decided by the jury. Or he could lose custody of his daughter completely.

Terry Farmer, in addition, had to travel to Texarkana on Thursday of this week for a contempt of court hearing for allegedly violating Judge Peek's temporary order. The temporary order forbids Farmer from having any gay over-night guests during those times when his daughter is visiting. The order applies to Henriksen, even though Henriksen and Terry Farmer share a home.

Terry Farmer said Wednesday that the contempt charges apparently stem from his daughter's most recent visit.

"My ex-wife hired a private investigator to follow us the last time we had Tia [his daughter]. When we got home from Texarkana, the investigator saw Erik get out of the car and go into the house with me and Tia, but he never saw Erik leave. That's because Erik went out the back door instead of the front door," he explained.

After hearing testimony, Judge Peek dismissed the charges ar a hearing yesterday.

According to transcripts of the hearing, in issuing the order Judge Peek said, "This is a very wrong relationship. It bothers me bad that they [Henriksen and Terry Farmer] don't have enough love and concern for the child that they'd clean up their life a little bit."

He told Terry Farmer, ". . . you don't need to help the world corrupt your child, and that's what you're doing. It may be just a small Sodom and Gomorrah that you have in your own home, but that's what you've got. And you're wanting your daughter to enjoy it there."

Judge Peek added that gay overnight guests are "an absolute prohibition," and he forbid any conversation with the child "about her dad's . . . homosexual relationship."

A story published today in the Oregonian reports that the Portland area is starting a domestic partnership registry, making it the second region in Oregon to do so.

Portland and Multnomah County will allows gays, lesbians and unmarried heterosexual couples to legally declare their relationships. Couples will pay $60, sign a notarized declaration at the marriage license office in the Multnomah Building and receive a certificate.

After recent court decisions, officials say most cities and counties are offering benefits to their employees' domestic partners. More companies are, too, including Nike, Intel and Hewlett-Packard.

A city of Portland survey of contractors found that nearly 90 percent didn't offer domestic partner benefits.  Almost two-thirds of those contractors wouldn't bid if the council said they had to offer benefits to get city contracts.

The registry rules call for couples to sign declarations that they will stay together forever and that they will live together.

Second domestic partner bill on way to California Governor

The California Legislature gave final approval yesterday to a bill sponsored by Senator Tom Hayden.  SB 1149 would allow employees in large firms to take extended family medical leave to care for an ill relative or domestic partner who resides with them.

The bill now goes to Governor Gray Davis for his review.   Earlier this year, Davis vetoed a similar bill (SB 118) by Hayden because he felt it went to far by allowing employees to take such leave to care for roommates, as well as domestic partners or close relatives.

In a last minute procedural move, Hayden took over SB 1149 from another legislator, amended the provisions of SB 118 into it, but deleted the part that Davis found objectionable.

Under current law, employees may take such medical leave to care for a spouse, child, or parent.  SB 1149 would extend the class of eligible relationships to other close family members who reside with the employee.

Last week, another domestic partner bill was sent to the Governor.  AB 2421, by Carole Migden, would expand the class of couples who are eligible to register as domestic partners with the new registry operated by the Secretary of State.

Under current law, same-sex couples of any adult age may register, as may heterosexual unmarried couples if both parties are at least 62 years old.  AB 2421 would allow opposite-sex couples to register if only one of the parties is 62 years of age of older.

All other domestic partner bills pending in the Legislature died this year, including a bill by Senator John Vasconcellos (SB 1173) which would have granted non-biological co-parents in a same-sex domestic partnership to seek visitation rights with the child of their partner if the couple were to separate.  SB 1173 would not have granted those visitation rights to co-parents in an unmarried heterosexual relationship.

To date, at least 103 Fortune 500 companies offer domestic partner benefits.