Georgia Supreme Court Issues Positive Decision for COLAGErs and their Father

COLAGE is thrilled that the Georgia Supreme Court has issued a positive decision in this case for which COLAGE submitted an amicus (friend of the court) brief.
The Georgia Supreme Court tossed out part of a Fayette County court’s decision that kept a divorced gay father from allowing his children to interact with his gay friends, according to a ruling today from the state Supreme Court. In the ruling, Justice Robert Benham wrote the high court acknowledges that trial courts have the discretion to “limit a parent’s exposure of the children to certain people, if it can be shown that the children would be adversely affected.”
In this case, the Supreme Court justices rejected Fayette County Superior Court Judge Christopher Edwards’ ban on having the gay father bring his gay friends around his children. Edwards is one of several candidates who have been nominated to fill a seat on the state Supreme Court after Chief Justice Leah Sears steps down at the end of June.
“The blanket prohibition against exposure of the children to members of the gay and lesbian community who are acquainted with husband is another matter,” says today’s opinion. “There is no evidence in the record before us that any member of the excluded community has engaged in inappropriate conduct in the presence of the children or that the children would be adversely affected by exposure to any member of that community.”
Hannibal Heredia represented the gay father, Eric Mongerson, in an appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court and said the order created an unreal living situation for his client.
The opinion by Benham further states: “The prohibition against contact with any gay or lesbian person acquainted with husband assumes, without evidentiary support, that the children will suffer harm from any such contact. Such an arbitrary classification based on sexual orientation flies in the face of our public policy that encourages divorced parents to participate in the raising of their children…and constitutes an abuse of discretion.” As a result, “we vacate the blanket prohibition against exposure of the children to husband’s gay and lesbian acquaintances.”
The ruling stems from the 2007 divorce of Eric Duane Mongerson and Sandy Kay Ehlers Mongerson. The couple was married 21 years and had four children. Custody of the three minor children was awarded to Sandy Mongerson, and Eric Mongerson was granted limited visitation. Eric Mongerson and his attorney argued their case before the state Supreme Court in January. Read SoVo’s coverage of the hearing here, including an interview with Eric Mongerson.
In February, Lambda Legal filed a brief on behalf of Eric Mongerson, stating “that restrictions on custody arrangements should not be determined based on sexual orientation and that no evidence exists that contact with gay acquaintances of their father is harmful.”
COLAGE joined the brief in an amicus since we know that children are able to establish the best relationships with their parents when they are able to be open and authentic with their kids. We know that there would be no inherent harm in allowing the kids to interact with their gay father’s community and applaud the Supreme Court for throwing out the custody stipulation that limited Eric Mongerson’s parenting rights.
Read more about the case and the decision by clicking HERE.