8 J U S t O U t ' October 1.2004
D [ 1 1 ; 11 : l VI
inewsbriefs
HOYT
STREET
Winter '04 completion date.
Chic urban sophistication
meets distinctive
Northwest Portland charm.
One of the many children who participated in A lD SW alk04 holds a sign for loved ones
$3 6 5 .0 0 0 - $6 7 5 ,0 0 0
Continued from Page 7
or her foreign-bom partner for U.S. residency.
Binational same-sex couples have no such legal
protection.
The MacNaughton Group
at Realty Trust
I daho C ourt R ules
A gainst G ay D ad
5 0 3 .2 9 4 .1 1 0 1
R ealty T rust
www.hoytcondos.com
■■“ D avid W. O wens ■■■
P.C.
& ASSOCIATES
serving the community since 1975
A ttorneys at L aw
Serving Oregon & Washington
503 224°3100
°
♦ FAMILY LAW
❖
WILLS & TRUSTS
• Probate & Trusts
• Conservatorships
& Guardianships
• A dvance Directives
• Dom estic Partnerships
• Formation & Dissolution
• A doptions
❖
• Corporations, Partnerships,
LLCs & LLPs
• Com m ercial Collections of
large accounts
♦ BANKRUPTCY
♦ REAL ESTATE
• Home Purchase Reviews
• Advising Businesses
& Individuals
SOCIAL SECURITY
<• BUSINESS FORMATION
& LITIGATION
• Divorce & Visitation
❖
TAX ISSUES & APPEALS
w w w o w en s-law co m « 1 0 1 SW M AIN , SUITE 700 • Portland, O regon 97204 • Parking V alid ated
A
Elise Campbell, GRi, abr
It's that
Sim ple!
Home Selling Tip # 2
Call Today!
503 - 307-1353
EliseC@CompassRealty.com
www.EliseCampbell.com
Set the right mood for buying. Open the doors
between rooms, turn on all the lights, raise all
the shades and turn on soothing music to give
your home an inviting feeling.
For more tips on getting your
home ready to sell, please
give me a call.
he Idaho Supreme Court ruled last month
that courts in the state cannot base child
custody decisions on a parent’s sexual orienta
tion, but denied visitation rights to a gay father.
It was the high court’s first decision involving a
gay or lesbian parent.
Writing for the majority, C h ief Justice
Linda Copple Trout stated that a parent’s sex
ual orientation “cannot he the basis for award
ing or removing custody.” She continued,
“Only when the parent’s sexual orientation is
shown to cause harm to the child, such that
the child’s best interests are not served, should
sexual orientation he a factor in determining
custody.”
The court also ruled that custody decisions
must consider the recent U.S. Supreme Court
decision in Lawrence vs. Texas, which held that
same-sex couples have a constitutionally pro
tected right to enter relationships.
However, the Idaho court denied a petition
from gay father Theron McGriff, who sought
joint custody of his two children. McGriff,
whose wife left him in 1997, shared custody of
the children until his former wife petitioned for
sole custody, after she learned that McGriff had
become involved with another man. A trial
court granted McGriff’s former wife full custody
of the couple’s children in 2002, and ruled that
Theron could not visit his children if his partner
lived with him.
The Idaho Supreme Court upheld the trial
court’s decisions, ruling that the lower court
based its decision on factors other than sexual
orientation, such as McGriff’s alleged inability
to communicate with his former wife and ten-
siim between his partner and his former wife.
In a dissenting opinion, Justice Wayne L.
Kidwcll stated that McGriff’s sexual orientation
“was wrongfully taken into consideration by the
lower court. This should not he the law in Idaho
and is undesirable public policy.”
Kidwell wrote, “If Theron’s sexual orienta
tion is not a factor, it is disingenuous that
Theron may only exercise his visitation rights if
he does not live with his male partner."
The California-based National Center for
Lesbian Rights provided assistance to M cGriff’s
attorneys.
T
CROUP. 1ST
“We applaud the court’s holding that sexual
orientation should not be a factor in child cus
tody, an unprecedented and enormously impor
tant ruling in the state of Idaho,” said Kate
Kendall, the center’s executive director. "Never
theless, we are distressed that this important
principle was not applied in this case. The fac
tual record did not support denial of custody to
Theron McGriff, and it is clear, as Justice Kid-
well noted, that the lower court decision was
based on Theron’s sexual orientation. By failing
to correct this injustice, the court has allowed
the children in this case to suffer by being
deprived of contact with a loving and devoted
father.”
AIDSW alk 04 R aises
R ecord A mount
his year’s AIDSW alk raised a record
$260,000 for C ascade A ID S Project,
according to C A P ’s special events manager,
Roma Peyser.
About 8,000 people participated in the five-
kilometer walk Sept. 26 at Pioneer Courthouse
Square. T hat’s about double the number of peo
ple who walked last year, Peyser said.
Although the amount of money raised fell
short of C A P ’s goal of $280,000, Peyser said it’s
still a 13 percent increase from last year. “We
were going for a pretty hefty increase, so we’re
thrilled.”
Participants in AIDSW alk03 raised about
$230,000, she said.
New to this year’s walk was the Take-Action
Room, which displayed a section of the AIDS
Memorial Quilt.
Participants could also make buttons, cre
ate banners, view H IV /A ID S media and con
tact state and local politicians. T he tent was
run by C A P ’s Teen to Teen program, made up
of high school students who do peer preven
tion education.
All of the money raised supports local out
reach programs and services provided hy CAP.
Now in its 18th year, the AIDSW alk has raised
more than $2 million to date.
T
L atino Q ueer C onference
P lanned for S eattle
eaders in the Latino queer community are
-✓ planning a dialogue on the closing of the
National Latina/o Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual &
Traasgendcr Organization, the only queer Lati
no group in the United States, and focusing on
the next steps at several events around the
country.
I