That's TWO Strikes Wisconsin

Oh, Wisconsin, what am I going to do with you?

It was just yesterday that I wrote about Gregg Udulutch, a bullied high school student in Wisconsin, whose voice went unheard, and whose complaints went unanswered.

And now this.

An appeals court ruled Tuesday that a woman who has raised two adopted children for years in a same-sex relationship is not considered the true parent of the children.

The woman, known only as Wendy in court papers, was seeking legal guardianship of two children for whom she had been a stay-at-home mother, but the District 4 Court of Appeals ruled that only the woman's former partner, identified only as Liz, is the true and real parent since the adoptions were done under her name.

These two women had been in a domestic relationship for 7 years before deciding to adopt a child from Guatemala in 2002; they adopted a second child from there in 2004.

Wendy says, in light of this decision, that she would consider asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to overturn the ruling: "For someone like me that was in a relationship for 12 years and a stay at home mom for 7, I shouldn't have to fight to parent my kids who I've been parenting 24-7. For me to read in the court documents that I'm not a parent is disturbing and troubling."

This wouldn't even be an issue, except for the fact that same-sex couples do not have adoption rights in Wisconsin, meaning that only one of them can be considered the legal parent. Wendy and Liz adopted the children under Liz's name so they could be added to her health care plan.

After the adoption, Wendy agreed to stop working and stay at home to look after the kids while Liz, an attorney, was the family's breadwinner. When the two women split up in 2008, they agreed to equally share custody, but Wendy wanted legal recognition of her rights to the children, and petitioned a court to be named a legal guardian.

Wendy is worried that she could not visit her children in the hospital without Liz's permission in the event of an accident, or wouldn't automatically get custody in the event of Liz's death; and, without legal recognition, she could also have problems with daily issues such as taking them to the doctor or out of school for a vacation.

Things a parent would do, if the state would just legally recognize her as the parent.

And, while Liz initially agreed to the guardianship, she then objected, and a Dane County judge sided with her.

When Wendy appealed that decision, the appeals court ruled that "parent" is defined under Wisconsin law as someone who is either a biological or an adoptive parent, and Wendy is neither. The court also rejected her argument that she should be granted guardianship because the children would be harmed by "depriving them of one of the two persons who has raised them from infancy." The court ruled she still shares custody under the informal arrangement, and only factors such as abandonment or neglect would justify guardianship to be granted to a "third party," which she hasn't proven.

All well and good, but legally, after all these years, she is not considered a mother to these children, because of some archaic laws that won't allow gay couples to adopt; and won't allow gay couple to marry.

So, let's punish the children, so long as we keep the homos in check.

I'm becoming very angry with you Wisconsin.