Judge cites Marriage Affirmation Act in ruling
The Washington Blade
August 27, 2004
By Bryan Anderton
WINCHESTER, Va. – A Virginia judge ruled this week that the state will keep jurisdiction in a custody case involving two separated lesbian mothers who were joined in a Vermont civil union, despite a Vermont ruling that already grants both women co-parenting rights.
In a case that was being watched closely by both sides of the gay marriage debate, Frederick County Circuit Court Judge John Prosser on Tuesday became the first judge in the state to use Virginia’s recently enacted Marriage Affirmation Act to void the rights obtained by a Vermont civil union.