Roe v. Roe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Roe v. Roe was a landmark child custody case in Virginia that denied the father custody due to his sexual orientation.[1] The 1985 case was brought to the Virginia Supreme Court and the father's custody was removed due to “continuous exposure of his nine-year-old daughter to his immoral and illicit homosexual relationship" which they claimed "rendered him an unfit and improper custodian.” Because homosexuality violated the Virginia sodomy laws, and was considered a class 6 felony, custody was granted to the mother.[2]
The trial case used fictitious surnames for both parties.
Catherine Roe (biological mother) and David Roe (biological father) were married in 1971. Their daughter was born in 1974. The couple separated in 1975. Catherine Roe served as the primary caregiver until December 1978 when she was diagnosed with cancer. David Roe became a more active caregiver at that time, and subsequently petitioned for custody in the fall of 1979. From then until 1983, the child stayed within the custody of David Roe and the child's mother was unable to care for her.[3]