(WOMENSENEWS)–An Alabama judge famous for putting washing machine-sized monuments of the Ten Commandments in the state judicial building said a lesbian woman is not fit for motherhood and awarded custody of her three children to their father, according to combined press reports.
The Gay and Lesbian Alliance of Alabama and Equality Begins at Home of Central Alabama–two groups that promote gay rights in the state–asked Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore on Tuesday to leave the bench.
"He has shown there is no way he can fairly judge any cases involving gay and lesbian citizens of Alabama or their family and friends," said Ken E. Baker, chairman of Equality Begins at Home.
Justice Moore, in a concurring opinion agreeing with the court’s nine-judge panel, wrote that homosexuality is an "inherent evil" and should not be tolerated. The court’s ruling, issued last Friday, gave custody of the children, ages 15, 17 and 18, to their father, a resident of Birmingham. The children’s mother now lives with her partner in Southern California.
The parents weren’t named in court documents.
Quoting scripture, historical documents and previous state court rulings, Moore wrote that homosexuality is "abhorrent, immoral, detestable, a crime against nature, and a violation of the laws of nature."
In addition to placing the monuments of the Ten Commandments in the state office building after he became chief justice last year, Moore also fought to keep a Ten Commandments plaque in his courtroom when he was a district judge.
State Representative Alvin Holmes, a Democrat from Montgomery, said he would ask the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission to examine Moore’s opinion to see whether he should be removed from the bench. But John Giles, state president of the Christian Coalition, said Moore’s decision protected the institution of marriage and strengthened the traditional family.
