From gwyn@annwfn.indstate.edu  Mon Oct 10 08:45:16 1994
Court Mulls Gay Dad's Rights
Date: Thu, 6 Oct 94

        ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- David K. North can visit his three
daughters for several hours on the weekend, during the daytime
only. No holidays, no overnight visits.

        That's because a judge doesn't believe the gay, HIV-positive
North -- now living with his lover -- can be trusted to hide his
homosexuality from his children.

        North's appeal of that 1993 ruling has given the Maryland Court
of Special Appeals its first chance to decide whether homosexuality
is a reason to limit the rights of an otherwise good parent.

        ``It's a very important question. We need more loving parents
rather than fewer, and to disqualify a homosexual because of that
status is a pretty outrageous thing to do,'' said Stuart
Comstock-Gay, head of the American Civil Liberties Union in
Maryland, which is helping represent North.

        North's former wife, Kathryn Dionne North, had sought to
terminate his visitation rights completely after learning that her
ex-husband, a former Baptist minister, is gay.

        Instead, a judge denied North overnight visits with the girls,
ages 9, 6 and 3, letting him have unsupervised visits on Saturdays
and Sundays.

        Mrs. North believes homosexuality is a sin and her children may
contract the AIDS virus from their father, even though medical
testimony made it clear that that is not possible with casual
contact.

        ``I don't want them to be guinea pigs. I don't want my babies to
die,'' Mrs. North said at the appeals court hearing Sept. 27.

        In 21 of 25 states where the issue has been decided at the
appellate level, courts ruled that a parent's rights cannot be
limited solely because he or she is homosexual and living with a
lover, said Natalie H. Rees, a lawyer appointed by the appeals
court to represent the girls.

        In June, the Virginia Supreme Court overturned a judge's ruling
denying a lesbian custody of her son. The judge had ruled that
being a lesbian made her an unfit mother.

        John Crockett, head of a gay fathers group in Baltimore, said a
ruling against North ``would be frightfully harmful'' to gay
parents, who often have problems with child custody and visitation.

        But James Joyner, Mrs. North's lawyer, said North's
homosexuality wasn't the real issue. He argued that North had shown
he wasn't trustworthy because he continued to have sex with his
former wife after learning he was infected with the AIDS virus.

        North tested positive for the virus in 1991. He told his wife
two months later but said he contracted the virus from heterosexual
contact. North has not developed symptoms of AIDS. Mrs. North said
she is tested regularly, and tests so far have been negative.

        North resigned as pastor of his church after telling his wife
and moved in with a family friend, David York. Each learned only
after sharing a house that the other man is gay and HIV-positive.

        Mrs. North allowed liberal visits until North told her in 1992
that he is gay and that he and York were involved in a
relationship.

        One reason Circuit Judge Audrey Melbourne cited in limiting
North's visitation rights was that he could not be trusted since he
continued to have sex with his wife after learning he had the AIDS
virus.

        ``The court finds that the defendant is not candid, is not
responsible and is deceitful,'' Melbourne said. ``The court will
therefore not trust defendant's promise not to display his
homosexual lifestyle to the children.''

        Gerald Solomon, one of North's lawyers, agreed it was wrong for
North to continue having sex with his wife. But Solomon said
North's ability to care for the children is all that matters in the
pending dispute.

        And the lawyer noted that state social and mental health workers
said North was a good father and the girls enjoyed their visits
with him and York. Both agencies supported liberal visitation
rights.

        North wants his daughters for overnight visits, holidays and
vacations and said he would not do anything that might expose them
to the virus.

        The former minister, who once preached that homosexuality is a
sin, also wants to tell his children that he is gay and would like
his former wife to join the discussion.

        ``But given her adamant feelings about the evils and abomination
of homosexuality,'' he said, ``that's just not going to happen.''