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THE BARB - 10
Lesbian Mother Loses
Custody Fight
The Los Angeles TIMES
reported in a copywrited
story by TIMES staff wri
ter Myran Oliver that a
lesbian mother, of two
children and been denied
custody of her children by
the courts.
Ms. Oliver stated that the
2nd District Court of Appeal
has denied a Torrance
woman custody of ^ her two
daughters on grounds she is
a homosexual, but noted
the decision was based on a
“combination of factors.”
In a 12-page opinion wri
tten by Justice Macklin
Fleming, the court upheld
Superior Judge William P.
Kennedy ir refusing cus
tody to Lynda Mae Chaffin,
who Fleming said suffers
blackouts and is “unstable
socially and financially.”
Custody of the daughters,
Tracy, 14 and Rachelle, 12
was given to the divorced
woman’s parents, Jessie
and Mary Frye of Mary
sville, Wash., with whom
the girls have spent most
of their lives
Fleming wrote that
American Civil Liberties
Union and other friends-
of- the -court lawyers were
wrong in claiming the case
hinged solely on Mrs. Cha
ffin's admission that she
had been a homosexual .
But he said the court
was concerned about the
well-being of the young
girls if they shared an
apartment with the mother
and her female companion.
“The fact that in certain
respects enforcement of the
criminal law against the
private commission of
homosexual acts may be in
appropriate and may be ap
proaching desuetude (dis
use), if such is the case,”
Fleming wrote, “does not
argue that society accepts
homosexuality as a pattern
to which children should be
exposed in their most form
ative and impressionable
years or as an example
that should be put before
them for emulation. ”
The opinion Friday also
cited evidence showing
Mrs Chaffin had been ar
rested five times in seven
years for bad checks and
shoplifting and had gone
into bankruptcy The court
said neither she nor her
companion was employed
and that they lived on dis
ability and Social Security
benefits.
The grandparents, ac
cording to the court opinion
told probation officers Mrs
Caffin only wanted custody
of the children so she could
receive their Social Secu
rity and child support pay
ments. They said the young
woman's companion
had “slapped the little one
many times. ”
Elbe Chaffin the children
father who divorced Mrs.
Caffin in Idaho in 1962,
was quoted in the opinion
as opposing their living
with his former wife.
”A woman such as this
should not have custody of
the children,” the court
document quoted the father
“for she has lived with di
fferent women in the past.
She also has a crime record
a mile long. There is no
body that can guarantee
that these children will not
be exposed to the beha
vior of their mother and her
girlfirend.”
Mrs. Chaffin had denied
her former husband’s ac
cusations and insisted her re
lationship with her female
companion would notbetfe-
tremental, to the children.
Fleming said the Fryes
had. given the children
’ whatever continuity and
stability has been brought
into their lives” and that
Mrs . Chaffin would not pro
vide them the best home
permanently, despite her
“temporary good inten
tions.”
"He said^he, court must
consider that homosexua-
Chattanooga,. „
Chatter
Well, hello, gossip lovers!
It's been a while, but here I am
again with all the latest
grease,
A few months back, a new
club opened in the Scenic Ci|y,
It was small but nice.
However, some important
things were “forgotton.” They
were called licenses. Lucy
Law paid a few visits and
discovered this fact. After one
her visits, Lucy decided that
some of the “mountaineers”
should pay a visit to the cross
bar motel. We don’t know
exactly what happened but
rumor has it that the car was
so crowded that a certain
: “blondie” had to sit on Lucy’s
lap. I’ll bet she had a ball (or
two!).
•(January held a lot of fun in
the entertainment field around
here. The Rah Rah girl of the
South, Cheerleader was
named director of show-and i
since then the shows have ^
become better and more
varied with more productions
and or comedy. The other
girls have been working hard
as usual. Adrian Sanchez,
Candy Cane, and Erica Towers
are showing unlimited talent.
Out of town guests included
Rachel Wells, Pearl Bailee,
Tina Terrell, Leslie Ross, J.
B., Terry Taylor, and the sex
change from Atlanta—Arpe-
ge. Of course, for about a
month the audience thrilled to
the comical escapades of Bill’s
new discovery— Ava Garbage.
She disappeared quite sud
denly, so we’ll just say
“hello, Miss Garbage, where-
ever you are!”
The Kitchen is once again
open, serving anything from
sandwiches to pizza to waiters!
Really, we got some good
food, so if you’re in and
aroujnd and you need some
thing to eat (food that is!) you
won’t have to go far- don’t
even leave the bar.
Continued on Page 12 column
column 4
1 it y “dominates" the
household Mrs, Chaffin
hoped to bring the girls
into, a different situation
than inert 1 admission of
past or casual homosex -
ual behavior
In exercising a choice
between homosexual and
hetrosexual households for
purposes of child custody. ’ ‘
he wrote, "a trial court
could conclude that perrna 1
nent residence 1 in a homo
sexual household would be
detrimental to the children
and contrary to their best
interest.”
Nole s From
Atla nta ’ s
Gay Help Line
By Bilbo Baggins
Since the Gay Help Line
began operating last
summer one of the most
common counseling calls
we received is some vari
ation on the theme of
“lovers. ” The caller
wants a lover, has one
but still isn’t happy, seeks
a deeper relationship than
any he has now, thinks
gay people are doomed to
one night stands and so on.
What can I,, as a counse
lor say to these people?
I don’t have a magic forr-
mula * that will get some
one a lover, and I don’t
know of any mysterious
incantations I can mumble
over a troubled relation
ship to make it heal. Every
relationship is a living
thing, a relationship must
have breathing space and
freedom or it is doomed
to death by suffocation.
God. thi& is starting to
sound insipidly trite!
You're read it all before
in Ann Landers, haven’t
you? You even read “ I
Have More Fun With You
Than With Anyone Else”
by Lige and Jack and pat
terned your last relation
ship by it. So why are you
sitting alone in your effici
ency appartment on Friday
nite reading this? I could
talk to you about the prin
ciples of a good relation
ship for a week, give you
copious notes and refer
ences on the subject and
coach you in every step
of your next affair. We
could map out a plan to
gether with the objective
being “years of mutual
happiness with person X,”
You could spend thousands
of dollars ■ going to semi
nars on finding a mate,
sexual compatibility, cook
ing for your lover, throw
ing out the garbage, and
deciding whose turn it is
to clean up the dog shit.
And after all of that,
you might still be siting
at home reading a future
edition of this paper to
tally alone.
It seems that Americans
today are very obsessed
with having done for them.
They are “entertained” by
TV, movies, plays, etc.,
but rarely do they enter
tain each other. At school
we are “educated” in
stead of participating in
our education. Our whole
lives fit into factory pre-
cut patterns mass produc
ed and rarely questioned.
So it seems only natural
that our relationships with
other humans should be
pre-manufactured patterns
also. You see, all the
things we did in the last
paragraph were patterns
manufactured by other
people for our comsump-
tion. What was missing
was the basic element of
any relationship, the two
peiple incolved. A gay re
lationship, the two people
1 at ions is unfortunately not
quite what the pattern
makers had in mind when
they put their best selling
product “marriage” on the
market:. So. if you want to
buy “Marriage” you’re in
tne same predicament as
a size 14 woman buying a
size TO dress. You might
be able to wiggle into the
thing but one wrong move
and it bursts apart at the
seams. Oh yes -, there are
some new products on the
market, like Lige and
Jack’s little number, but
how do you know that one
will fit? And why are
you wasting all your time
out shopping anyway when
you’re got all of the ma
terials to create your
very own relationship with
another person right inside
your own two heads!
Well, now all I have to
do is tell you how to do
it, right? Wrong! That is
the worst thing I could do.
You must do it yourself.
You must create your own
relationship. I do realize
that creation out of noth
ingness has only happened
Continued on Page 7
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