Out in the Mountains Adoption: Some Battles Won but the War is Not Over Fred Kuhr “A petition for adoption may be filed only by an individual or married couple with whom a minor has been placed for purposes of adoption...If an individual who files the petition is unmarried, no other individual may join in the peti- tion.” This is what is stated in H283, the bill up for consideration in Ver- mont’s upcoming legislative session be- ginning January 1994. This bill, entitled “An Act Relating To Adoption,” has certain ramifications for the gay and lesbian community in Vermont, ac- cording to Keith Goslant, co—liason to the Governor and board member of the Statewide Coalition for Lesbians and Gay Men. As the bill is written now, Vermonter Deborah Lashman might not have been able to adopt her partner's two children, which is contradictory to what the Vermont Supreme Court ruled earlier this year. Adoption of children by gay and lesbian couples is an issue that has created much controversy this year, even if it did not get as much of the spotlight as the gays in the military debate. On April 18, 1993, The New York Times re- ported that “appellate courts in (Ver- mont and Massachusetts) are trying to decide whether a person in a long—term homosexual relationship can adopt the children of the partner.” Earlier this year, Deborah Lashman petitioned to adopt the biological children of her part- ner, Jane Van Buren. Van Buren was unemployed at the time, but Lashman's insurance would not cover the boys (ages one and four years old) because they were, not legally her children. Lashman’s petition to adopt was in- itially turned down by Judge George Belcher of Washington Probate Court. According to the Times article, Paula Ettelbrick, a lawyer with the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund who was involved in this case said that the judge “relied on language in the Vermont adoption statutes that re- quires a spouse to consent to adop- tion...(He) interpreted the wording to mean that couples must be married in order to adopt.” Finally, however, on June 18, joint custody was granted and Lashman received “recognition as par- ent”. The Vermont Supreme Court ruled that the law allowed a “steppar- ent exception” and same-sex couples would count as such an exception. The Lashman/Van Buren case in Ver- mont was helped by a precedent set in New York City in January when a judge approved the adoption of a six year old by the partner of the boy's bio- logical mother. On June 2, 1993, The Advocate reported that “the ruling gives the boy the rights to financial support from the (partner) and eligibil- ity to social security benefits derived from her. It also allows the (partner) to apply for visitation rights if (the couple separates).” The judge who pre- sided over the case, Eve Preminger, wrote, “Here the court finds a child who has two adults dedicated to his welfare, sincere in their loving relationship, and determined to raise him to the very last of their considerable abilities. There is no reason in law, logic, or social phi- losophy to obstruct such a favorable sit- uation.” The judge stated that the ruling was in the child's “best interest”. If H283 passes as currently drafted, the language in Vermont adoption law would change from “the best interest of the adoptee” to “the best option avail- able for the adoptee”. In the bill itself, the latter phrase is defined as “the option available at this point in time which has the best chance of providing for the healthy physical and emotional develop- ment of the minor.” Goslant said this change in language concerns him be- cause “we don't know what that means.” The ramifications of such a change are yet to be determined. In August of this year, The New York Times reported that a family court judge in New Jersey ruled “it would be in the best interest” of a three year old girl to be adopted by her biological mother's partner. The two women were cited as having a “committed relationship” for the past ten years. 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