THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 30, 1994 TAG: 9412300488
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Short : 28 lines
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed an appeal brief on behalf of Sharon Bottoms, who lost custody of her son because she lives with her lesbian partner.
Nineteen groups also have filed friend-of-the-court briefs with the Virginia Supreme Court, which will decide whether the 3-year-old boy will be raised by Bottoms or his grandmother.
The grandmother, Kay Bottoms, is appealing a June ruling by the state Court of Appeals that ordered Tyler Doustou returned to his mother. While the appeal is pending, Tyler lives with his grandmother, in keeping with lower court rulings that called Sharon Bottoms an unfit parent because she is gay.
The groups that submitted briefs on Sharon Bottoms' behalf include the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and the Virginia Women Attorneys Association. by CNB