Now, the South hardly has a monopoly on intolerance, but when it comes to outright unfiltered hate, 
Georgia’s Fayette County Superior Court Judge Christopher Edwards is the belle of the ball. Last October, in divorce case between Eric Mongerson and Sandy Ehlers, he ruled that Mongerson, who is gay, “is prohibited from exposing the children to his homosexual partners and friends.” Mongerson is appealing the ruling to the Georgia Supreme Court.
The gay daddy is hoping to overturn the order, but as is true of divorce cases of any sexuality, this one’s messy. The Citizen reports:
“In his appeal, Mongerson’s attorneys write that such an order was an abuse of the court’s discretion.
“There was no evidence presented that and the court made no finding that exposing the parties’ children to any of Appellant’s homosexual friends would adversely affect the best interests of the children,” according to the appeal. “Therefore, such a prohibition on appellant’s homosexual friends is an abuse of discretion.”
But Ehlers’ attorney claims that there was such evidence as the oldest daughter testified that she had “found one of my dad’s magazines that had nude men in it doing things to each other.”
In the same brief Tyrone attorney Lance McMillian says the discovery of their father’s infidelity “has been ‘emotionally difficult’ for the children who continue to go to counseling as a result.”
Being exposed to their father’s homosexual friends could have “potentially damaging effects on the healing process” for the children should they be “reminded of the painful issue of the appellant’s infidelity, new lifestyle and keeping of pornography in the home,” according to the brief.”
Pragmatist
Huh. I REALLY wanted to go guns-blazin’ after that redneck judge. And I still do think his ruling is unjustified and possibly unconstitutional. But, WTF was this dad doing keeping his pr0n stash where the tykes could find it? That’s just careless parenting, and I don’t find much excuse for it.
Sceth
I wonder if there’s any heterosexual version in the case law to back up this ruling.
Tallskin
Here we go again! More fucking sky pixie values beaten into our skulls to such an extent that we don’t even realise we have swallowed them hook, line and sinker!
PRAGMATIST, I cannot believe you have just come out with that shit! Think about what you’re saying! What is wrong with kids seeing REAL LIFE? Why is sex (and porn) something to “protect” children from????
It is only something to “protect” children from if you have created an artificial barrier in the first place and separated SEX from “Normality”. So, that kids are genuinely shocked when they come across reality for the first time.
A lot of cultures throughout history have no such artificial barriers – kids watch and listen to their parents fucking in the same hut, watch their older siblings fucking, wanking.
But what we have done here in the West is create a Disney cartoon world, due to sky pixie values, that separates children into an unreal category of “childhood”.
Why are sky pixie values so obsessed with sex and so little interested in poverty, starvation, torture, corruption, war etc? Answer that and you may go some way to freeing your mind!
Brian Miller
The judge is an idiot, yes.
But so is the hubby.
He knew he was gay, married a woman, took MARRIAGE VOWS to protect/cherish for better or worse, and then apparently went around creeping on his wife behind her back.
While she was busy at home or working on the marriage, he was (if the case papers are to be believed) hooking up with men on the side and “finding himself.”
Then, when he decided he could “no longer live a lie,” he bolted from the marriage and left her high and dry.
For all the criticism of the asshole judge (which is warranted and a double standard, since most cheating heterosexual male divorcees don’t have such restrictions imposed on them), some ire ought to be directed at the self-centered gay men who enter into marriages with women, have kids, and then turn their entire families’ lives upside down by making the whole thing all about them and “their journey to find themselves.”
If you’re queer and decide to marry a woman and have kids, you’re bringing a load of shit down on your head and making the rest of us look bad by extension. You shouldn’t be surprised when the spouse and others react poorly to infidelity, etc.
J. K.
Kids find porn, it’s shitty to marry a woman if you’re a gay, yes yes. But it may also be worth noting that the original article this links to contains the following information:
“According to the affidavits, the oldest son and oldest daughter claimed that Mongerson grabbed the girl by her neck, slapped her in the face and punched her. On the same trip, they claimed that Mongerson took his daughter’s cell phone from her, “put it down the front of his pants and told her if she wanted it she would have to come get it.â€
In the same affidavits the children said they were afraid of how their younger sister and brother would be treated by their father and they went on the trip to protect their younger siblings.”
Though the prohibition against gay associates is awkward and uncalled for, it seems there are a few more important things going on here than dad’s queer buddies.
Sean
I would love to have a few cases where straight men who had commited infidelity were banned from having children meet their female friends or girlfriends. It would be one thing if he molested the children but he apparently hadn’t. In addition, I wonder if there has ever been a case where a straight man was confronted with their son or daughter finding straight porn during a divorce settlement?
CV
At first glance, this certainly looks like a case of discrimination where all homosexuals are equated as bad influences, and suggests that the father is being held to a higher standard than heterosexuals might be. But then I wonder if there isn’t more to this that we aren’t being told?
What if daddy’s coming out process involves a sling built over his bed and strangers coming over for hardcore sex while the kids hide in their rooms trying to do homework? Like my landlord/housemate? That’s traumatizing enough for me, and i’m an adult.
To be sure, the judge’s conduct orders read like something from a silly sharia law country, but the judge is a complete ass to additionally define all homosexuals as bad people and all contact with them as traumatizing. The kids won’t be as able to adjust to reality if they’re isolated from it. The standing order to “protect” the children from homosexual influences might also serve to reinforce the children’s own homophobic tendancies.
These are the liberties that such authorities (judges, caseworkers) routinely take in cases of divorce and custody. If a judge tells a gay man he can’t have any gay fellows over, then it is legally binding. If a judge tells a pagan that he can’t expose his children to his religion (due to christian ex-wife’s objections), then surprisingly, it’s legally binding. To be sure, I don’t think authorities should have this power to make private laws.
But the whole “gay thing” is just tacked onto the real issue at hand: daddy is physically abusive with the kids, and the kids don’t trust daddy any more. Furthermore, daddy disregards other visitation rules. It’s not unexpected that the mom and kids throw everything they’ve got against him. I do hope the homosexual influence thing wasn’t the determining factor in the judge’s new visitation rules, but I wouldn’t want my own kids in his care either.
Chris
CV……….get a new roommate and deal with it……..
Connie Dobbs
@Tallskin: \
You need a dick in your mouth. Another one. Fag
Rob Moore
@Pragmatist: What would you know? I remember finding my father’s straight porn. He thought it was well hidden, but children snoop sometimes. They might be looking for hidden Christmas presents or birthday presents and stumble on something. When my children were growing up, one of them found their mum’s secret friend in a drawer. If either of us had made a big thing of it, they might have needed therapy to recover from the perception they had done something wrong. Taking a kid to therapy to deal with the feelings about divorce is one thing, but a one time exposure to a porn magazine is not a reason to go. I’ve seen just as much on the walls of public restrooms while taking my young son to the bathroom. I ignored it rather than draw his attention to it.
I’ve seen this before. A hurt, angry spouse who is looking to punish the unfaithful spouse siezes on a single brief incident to make it sound as twisted and perverted as possible. I’ve lived in Georgia most of my life. Fayette county is next to one of the two counties where gay parents have a real chance at fair consideration. Fayette is a hotbed of Christian fundamentalist and so red it borders on the infrared. For every nonconservative, there are probably ten reactionary nuts.
Rob Moore
@Brian Miller: Maybe, maybe not. I have known more than one gay man who was married and when a divorce came, there was more made up shit thrown than manure in a pigsty. I also remember when my parents divorced. I was constantly be coached and prodded to say things about one or the other parent that I knew not to be true. My reaction was to withdraw into an emotional shell for a few years. My sister, who was even younger than I, claims memories that I know she couldn’t have mostly because they didn’t happen or did not happen the way she claims. She grew up with our mother. I grew up with my paternal grandparents, yet she claims memories of things about my life that she couldn’t possibly have witnessed.
Who are you to judge another gay man who might or might not have arrived at the truth of himself? In the south, the pressures to conform are powerful and harsh. Imagine yourself growing up with no positive images to help you know yourself. You aren’t allowed to see anything that contradicts the religious party line. Imagine having to go to church and bible study multiple times a week. In some public school systems, the school administrators look the other way when the classroom becomes a propaganda machine for the Christian imams who are so plentiful. You need to try imagining someone else’s life before you go spouting with holier than thou crap. He is apparently from Arkansas which is every bit as reactionary as Georgia is outside the Atlanta area. The judge awarded essentially life time alimony. That is almost unheard of.
The majority of private schools are religious and funded. The mythology of Abraham’s descendents is taught as undisputed facts by many. If one home schools, I will guarantee there is as much religion thrown in as there is math. We have a governor who basically says it will be a cold day in hell before he will sign legislation allowing people to buy alcohol at a store on Sunday. We have a General Assembly where the conservative Christians have nearly an absolute majority in both houses. Only in Atlanta is it relatively safe for gay people.
Rob Moore
@Connie Dobbs: Such an intelligent response. What he says is true. Religion is a poison for the mind and drug for the masses who are too lazy to think.
Canada
@Rob Moore: I agree with you Rob!
Jaroslaw
How old is the girl in question? I think seeing explicit images too young would not be a good thing. And children do snoop so we can’t assume the father left his porn laying around.
Plus, our court system is set up to be adversarial instead of no-fault like some countries, for divorces anyway. I’m not accusing the mother, but it wouldn’t surprise me a bit if she planted the magazine.