California Court Mulls Parental Rights In Lesbian Couple Disputes

San Francisco, CA — The California Supreme Court heard oral arguments today in three child custody and support cases involving lesbians who parted ways acrimoniously after becoming mothers.

The central question before the court, what makes a family?

The state Supreme Court is pondering the question of whether children born to same-sex households with the help of medical science should be treated the same as the out-of-wedlock offspring of heterosexuals.

Shannon Minter is the legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights. In arguing for the women seeking custody, he told the court “In every situation where possible, parentage should be established.”

It was a one day hearing before the state´s high court. The outcome could be a bellwether for where the justices might stand on a related social issue headed its way, whether same-sex couples in California should be afforded the right to marry.