By L.A. Williams, Correspondent
Christian Action League
WILMINGTON — It appears that former N.C. Senator Julia Boseman is once again suing one of her prior homosexual partners demanding joint custody of the woman’s son.
According to media reports, Boseman is suing Chrystal Medlin over the 2-year-old boy that Medlin gave birth to while Boseman and she were living together. This is the second time Boseman has taken an ex-partner to court over a child. After she and Melissa Ann Jarrell split in 2006, she fought for custody of Jarrell’s son, who was 8 years old by the time the case arrived at the N.C. Supreme Court. The Court ruled Boseman’s so-called “second parent” adoption illegal, but because Jarrell had acted “inconsistently with her paramount parental status,” awarded Boseman joint custody.
The former Senator is reportedly using the same legal tactic in her latest case, alleging that Medlin “voluntarily relinquished her paramount parental right to make decisions regarding the minor child by voluntarily ‘sharing decision-making’ authority” with her.
In the fall of 2009, Boseman told Indy Week that she and Medlin were “very fortunate that we have a solid relationship” in the wake of the custody case with Jarrell. She talked of the baby they expected in January 2010 and said “Life goes on.” Shortly thereafter, when she announced she would not run again for Senate, she said “being a parent has been my guiding force as a Senator” and that it was more important than ever for her to be “close to home” when Medlin’s baby was born.
“Lawmakers in North Carolina have made clear their intent regarding adoption and the formation of stable families best suited for child-rearing. So when same-sex couples try to circumvent adoption laws, these are the problems that result and tie up our courts. And in Ms. Boseman’s case, not once but twice,” said the Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League.
He said both the Boseman cases should serve as warnings to parents to be extremely careful and think twice before facilitating any kind of relationship between their children and a third party.
“It is these nebulous relationships that the state seeks to prevent with its specific adoption laws that favor married couples and promote child-rearing in homes with two married parents of opposite gender,” he said. “We hope the court applies the laws as they are intended.”
