Unfit: Ward vs. Ward

In 1995, Mary Ward filed for an increase in child support from her ex-husband. She was awarded the increase but never expected the firestorm that would ensue. Her ex-husband in turn filed for a complete modification of custody. Everyone thought this was a stunt by the father to avoid paying child support. Why would the state modify custody when Mary appeared to be a devoted mother? Her children were the center of her universe and she would do anything for them. And in the six years since their separation, the father had by all accounts been an absent parent. He was unclear as to what grade his daughter was in or which school she was attending. He didn't know that she had been in counseling for over a year to help with her ADD diagnosis. He was behind in child support, and the most time he had spent with the daughter was four consecutive days on a trip. Mostly he just saw her every other weekend for one day. He had a limited education, was prejudiced, lived in a trailer down a windy dirt country road, had a history of a bad temper, and had been married to his fourth wife for less than a year. And as if that didnt seem like enough stacked against him, he had murdered his first wife. Yet after a two hour hearing that August, the judge ruled that custody should be transferred to the father. Why? Mary Ward was a lesbian. Although the judge stated that the mothers sexual orientation had nothing to do with his decision, in his ruling he said ...I believe that this child should be given the opportunity and the option to live in a non-lesbian world. Devastated at the thought that the court had found her unfit to be a parent, Mary didnt know where to turn. Thats when she found the National Center for Lesbian Rights in San Francisco. They immediately took on the case and filed an appeal. It seemed like a no-brainer to them. Everything seemed to be stacked in the mothers favor. They were wrong.