Court Opinion

ID: 9669761
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 03:09:02.457779+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:00.129184
License: Public Domain

Hannon, Judge,
dissenting.
I must respectfully dissent from that portion of the opinion which does not award custody to Thomas.
The record shows that both parties have a healthy and good relationship with their daughter, but Thomas’ conduct since the divorce has been more mature and settled than Carol’s. This difference alone would not justify modifying the previous custody order. However, the record shows that after the decree in 1990, Carol openly lived in a homosexual relationship and that she *22and her lover have discussed homosexual relationships with the child. While Carol testified she no longer engages in lesbian relationships, the record is clear that she continued the relationship for 3 months after Thomas filed the application to modify. It seems to me this case clearly focuses on the question of the effect the establishment of a homosexual relationship by a custodial parent should have upon child custody when that activity is recognized by the people involved as a serious moral wrong.
The majority cites the often-stated rule that the court may consider the moral fitness of the child’s parents and the parents’ sexual conduct. See Smith-Helstrom v. Yonker, 249 Neb. 449, 544 N.W.2d 93 (1996). In our diverse society, we are often confronted with the question of which moral code to apply. I think courts must apply the moral code to which the parties subscribe. In this case, both parties have outwardly subscribed to the Catholic faith since before they were married, and they are sending Jacqueline to a parochial school. The record establishes that both parties regard the practice of homosexuality as morally wrong.
True, Carol did not engage in sexual activity in front of Jacqueline, but both she and her lover discussed homosexual relationships with the child. If Jacqueline does not now understand her mother’s conduct, she certainly will within a few short years. At school and at home, Jacqueline will eventually be taught her mother’s conduct was morally wrong.
I am convinced that parents can teach their moral code to their children only by quietly living that code in front of them, not by preaching at them or sending them to be formally instructed in it. With regard to this family’s moral code, Carol has obviously set a horrible example. When young people raised with a moral code similar to that which the parties to this action apparently subscribe are confronted with natural sexual yearnings, they are usually fortified by moral education and by their observation of the monogamous, heterosexual relationship of their parents. I am convinced that a child’s observation of his or her parent’s conduct which is at odds with the family moral code seriously affects the child’s reaction to his or her sexual yearnings during the formative years. If a parent commits serious and prolonged moral indiscretions in such a way that his or *23her child will learn of them, it is foolish to think the moral education of that child will not be seriously damaged. I think the record shows Carol’s conduct will necessarily impair Jacqueline’s moral training; therefore, it is in Jacqueline’s best interests that custody be modified.