A heartbreaking story today about a lesbian mother who has taken her own life because of a custody dispute over her son.
Debie Hackett and her son, from her facebook profile.
The news comes from the Dallas Voice, which had covered the legal battle this summer. In July, Debie Hackett had sued her former partner and the biological mother of their child, Kim Ferris for proper visitation rights with their son. Debie won in an appeals court and the case was remanded to a lower court, where this past month, Debie lost. To explain further: the appeals’ court ruling did not grant Debie visitation, but did allow for the case to continue and not be dismissed as Ferris had hoped.
On Christmas Eve, distraught by the fact that she could may possibly never see her child again, Debie took her own life. The Dallas Voice asks: “Could interpretation of laws to discount a same-sex relationship be the underlying cause of this needless death?”
A sad story to start of 2011, but will hopefully ignite some fire in us to continue creating the change we so desperately need.
Talk About Equality 