Gay-Marriage Bans: The Boomerang Effect

Marriage legislation is causing some unintended legal consequences

Denise Fairchild was artificially inseminated in 1997. She raised her son with her lesbian partner Therese Leach until the couple split in 2001. Now Fairchild wants to deny her former partner visitation rights, and she's citing Ohio's new constitutional ban on gay marriage. Since they were never legally married under Ohio law, Fairchild claims, Leach does not have the rights of a former spouse. Leach's attorney argues that the amendment doesn't apply to parent-child relationships. "I'm using a piece of legislation that will deny me rights later in life," Fairchild says. "But before I am a lesbian and a member of...

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