Courts should remain impartial regarding religious beliefs and sexual orientation when considering custody arrangements and parenting plans. When a court relies on and adopts the opinions and recommendations of witnesses who express biases based on these issues, the entire parenting plan may be called into question. Such was the situation in a case recently decided by the Washington Supreme Court.
The couple had been married for nearly 20 years at the time of their divorce. They had three sons, whom they raised in a conservative Christian church and sent to Christian schools. The wife had been the primary caretaker of the children, and the husband had been the primary wage earner for most of their marriage.
In 2011, the wife told the husband she thought she might be gay. She stopped going to the family church and began a romantic relationship with a woman.