Courting Change: Queer Parents, Judges, and the Transformation of American Family Law

Winner of the 2010 Pacific Sociological Association Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship Award
A lesbian couple rears a child together and, after the biological mother dies, the surviving partner loses custody to the child’s estranged biological father. Four days later, in a different court, judges rule on the side of the partner, because they feel the child relied on the woman as a “psychological parent.” What accounts for this inconsistency regarding gay and lesbian adoption and custo...