
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 17, 1994                   TAG: 9402170149
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

LESBIAN BACK IN COURT FOR SON

A lesbian who was declared an unfit mother sought to regain custody of her 2-year-old son Wednesday, challenging a state Supreme Court ruling that gays should not raise their own children.

An attorney for Sharon Bottoms, the child's mother, told the Virginia Court of Appeals that homosexuals' children are not adversely affected by their parents' sex lives.

"The social-scientific studies are replete with evidence these children grow up normally," Donald Butler said.

But an attorney for Sharon Bottoms' mother, who was awarded custody of Tyler Doustou on Sept. 7, said the state's highest court had a different opinion.

"The Supreme Court has condemned that type of behavior if the child is subjected to it. How mixed up is that child going to be, a few years down the road?" said Richard Ryder, lawyer for Kay Bottoms.

The three-judge appeals panel is expected to rule within six months in the custody battle, which is being watched by national gay and civil rights groups. Missouri is the only other state where homosexuality is considered a legal reason to declare a parent unfit, Butler said.

Henrico County Circuit Judge Buford Parsons relied heavily on the state Supreme Court case when he awarded custody of Tyler to Kay Bottoms. In the 1985 case, a mother won custody because the homosexual father admitted breaking the state's sodomy law.

Sharon Bottoms said Wednesday that her son has never seen her have any sexual contact with her live-in partner, April Wade. But she said in September that she and Wade had hugged and kissed in front of the boy.

Butler said a child's sexual orientation is not affected by growing up with a homosexual parent, and peer ridicule is similar to what a disabled person's child endures.

Butler also said the state Supreme Court case - a custody fight between parents - should not apply in the Bottoms case, in which a third party challenged for custody. Tyler's father has not been involved.

by CNB