"Lisa Miller-Jenkins, 35, who gave birth to Isabella in Frederick County, Va., in 2002 after becoming pregnant by artificial insemination, is suing for full custody in Virginia, which does not recognize civil unions.

Janet Miller-Jenkins, 39, is asking a family court in Vermont, the only state where civil unions are recognized, to award her custody of the child, claiming that Lisa has barred her from seeing Isabella even though under Vermont law she is a co-equal parent," the Washington Post reported.

"The dispute has mobilized activists on both sides of the gay-marriage issue. Lambda Legal, a prominent gay rights advocacy group in New York, is advising Janet, while Florida-based Liberty Counsel, which opposes gay marriage, is consulting with Lisa."

Stephen Cable, president of Vermont Renewal, said, "This is a shining example of the problems we knew would arise if these things became legal, but couldn't reference specifically before."

After Lisa turned to the organization for assistance, Cable helped her find legal representation in Vermont and Virginia. Vermont Renewal asks donors in a fund-raising letter to help her win custody because she is 2-year-old Isabella's "natural, responsible and loving mother."

The Post reported, "The letter says Lisa is a 'former lesbian' and states that 'with the help of counselors, church, and [a] caring and Christian brother, she has begun to turn around her life.'"

Liberty Counsel's president and general counsel, Mathew D. Staver, said, "The real showdown will be in Virginia, because giving any decision based on the civil union legitimacy would be the equivalent of exporting Vermont's law outside state borders, which is a dangerous precedent."

The Post reported, "Staver said the group fought to prevent a Georgia court from recognizing a Vermont civil union in a 2000 case, and in 2002 it helped persuade a Connecticut court not to dissolve a couple's Vermont civil union because it had no legal status in the state."

After moving back to Virginia with her baby, Lisa filed papers in Vermont to have the civil union dissolved. A court in Vermont has given her temporary custody of Isabella, whom Janet never adopted. Now Lisa is fighting to give her daughter a good and permanent home.

Editor's note: