Since I Been Gone

Back home and here's part of what I missed: DCist reports on the battle royale between courts in Maryland and Virginia over gay dad Ulf Hedberg and his child custody rights. A 2002 Virginia court order required that Ulf's partner had to move out of the house before son Alex would be allowed to live there. A lower Maryland court upheld the ruling, but now an appeals court has overruled it and ordered another hearing.

Such disrespect to a fellow state! Actually, despite the involvement of Lambda and Liberty as counsel on opposite sides in this case, a reading of the opinion makes clear that the Maryland court didn't really see this as a gay rights issue. Rather, it's a typical request for modification of an old custody decree based on changed circumstances. Since both parents had moved out of state, Virginia no longer had jurisdiction anyway.