Parents in gender-

Westerville Part II

Parents in gender-identity, custody dispute now at odds

Tuesday, September 19, 2000

Kevin Mayhood
Dispatch Staff Reporter

A couple's battle for custody of their 6year-old son took another twist yesterday when their attorney left the case because, he said, the parents are now in conflict with each other.

Mark Narens said he could no longer represent Paul and Sherry Lipscomb, who lost their son to Franklin County Children Services after they enrolled him in school as a girl. Narens said he based his decision partly on Mrs. Lipscomb's statement that she never left the child alone overnight with her husband because "both are too hotheaded.''

Mr. Lipscomb said his wife's statement, quoted in this week's Time magazine, "is a bunch of bull.''

"It's a ploy to get sole custody,'' he said yesterday outside the courtroom of Juvenile Court Judge Kay Lias. Inside, attorneys representing the child argued against Narens, as well as attorneys for the news media, over whether further proceedings in the case will be open to the public.

Lias said yesterday that she will rule on the matter Wednesday.

In the Time article, Mr. Lipscomb says he is suffering from the same gender-identity disorder as his son.

Mrs. Lipscomb left after yesterday's hearing and could not be reached for comment.

The Lipscombs' case has drawn media attention from as far as Germany.

The couple alerted the local media when Children Services filed a complaint seeking custody of the boy, alleging the parents were not meeting his needs. The couple arranged to hand him over to caseworkers last month at the offices of WCMH-TV (Channel 4) as cameras rolled.

The Lipscombs have said they want media coverage to ensure the proceedings are fair. They say the taking of their child, who they said has gender-identity disorder, is discriminatory.

The parents have said they were giving their child the freedom to express his chosen gender by allowing him to wear girls' clothing, go by a girl's name and play with toys associated with girls.

The Lipscombs filed papers last month in Franklin County to legally change his name from a boy's to a girl's.

The case "has ruined my family,'' Mr. Lipscomb said. "All I want is my kid back.''

He said he and Mrs. Lipscomb have had problems; they were separated for 14 months at one time. "But I don't know where she comes up with this statement. Maybe she thinks she's a better parent.''

He said he has yelled at their child, but never hit him.

Mrs. Lipscomb has said in court that there were instances of domestic violence at home when her husband was frustrated with their child and she stepped in to protect the youngster.

Both parents have bipolar disorder, and Mr. Lipscomb says he believes he and his child both have a gender-identification disorder that makes them feel trapped inside the wrong body.

"I didn't ask for it and neither did she,'' Mr. Lipscomb said. The parents refer to the child as she.

Mr. Lipscomb said he can see in his child symptoms he had as a child. "You have feelings of depression, thoughts of suicide, being alone.''

He said he was beaten when he tried to behave as a girl. He said he wants his child "to have all the freedoms I didn't have.''

Several mental-health problems have been diagnosed in the child over the years and he has been hospitalized three times for psychiatric care, according to court papers.

Rebecca Steele, a public defender appointed to represent the boy's best interests, said there is more at issue than gender identity: The boy has said he wanted to kill his parents and has had suicidal fantasies when with them.

Jolie S. Brams, a child psychologist, testified yesterday that such a history of troubles is rare and shows just how fragile the child is. Brams said media coverage could harm the child's mental state and development.

Marion Little, an attorney representing The Dispatch, argued that Brams' testimony should be stricken from the record or disregarded because she had not evaluated or observed the boy, or read his psychological records.

The boy remains in a foster home where he dresses as a boy and receives psychological and medical services, according to testimony last week. After Lias rules whether to close further hearings to the public, she will hear arguments on whether he will remain in foster care or be returned to the Lipscombs pending a trial in November.

At that trial, the judge could decide whether the parents were negligent and whether the boy will stay in foster care or be returned to the Lipscombs with or without orders for treatment and counseling.

Judge orders boy's parents to keep quiet in gender case

Thursday, September 21, 2000

Kevin Mayhood
Dispatch Staff Reporter

The parents who have received international media attention by bringing to court the case of their child -- a boy who they say wants to be a girl -- have been ordered to no longer talk about the case.

Juvenile Court Judge Kay Lias yesterday issued a 14-page ruling in the case of Paul and Sherry Lipscomb and their 6- year-old son. The judge placed the parents under a gag order and issued other restrictions in the case.

The Lipscombs, who have said they want public scrutiny of the case, plan to appeal the decision.

Lias also extended the gag order to the child's foster parents and the lawyers involved. It prevents them from talking in public about the specifics and merits of the case.

The Lipscombs, who say they expect to divorce, said their son was taken from them by Franklin County Children Services last month because they were planning to enroll him in school as a girl.

They say a gender-identity disorder has been diagnosed in the child.

In its complaint, Children Services says the Lipscombs are not meeting the medical and psychological needs of the boy.

In her ruling, Lias ordered that the child not be shown to the media nor media reports be shown to him.

She lamented that she could not order -- but only request -- that neighbors, friends, family, teachers and the community help protect the child's identity.

"It is clear that there is great danger of potential future harm to this child during these proceedings,'' Lias wrote. "Yet, much of this potential harm is predicated on the child's future exposure to or knowledge of the media reports or his future knowledge that the community neither accepts him or his family, but labels and ostracizes them.''

Lias, however, said the trial that is scheduled for November will be open to the public and be closed only when the child's medical and psychological history is discussed.

"I believe, if we can have the cooperation of not only the people in the courtroom but the community at large and the media, we can keep the proceedings open,'' Lias said in her ruling.

The Lipscombs have willingly given interviews on local, national and international television -- including Good Morning America -- as well as in the local and national press, such as Time magazine.

According to court documents and their own statements, the Lipscombs say they both suffer from bipolar disorder. Paul Lipscomb also says he has the same gender-identity disorder that he says his son has.

The parents say they have been painted as unfit because their son wears girls' clothing, plays with what are traditionally female toys and uses a girl's name at home. They have said they are allowing him to express his chosen gender and that the school and community should be accepting.

Rebecca Steele, a public defender appointed to represent the best interest of the child, has said in court that the child and parents have serious problems and that the gender-identity issue is a "red herring.''

While in foster care, the child has not been showing symptoms of a gender-identity disorder, a representative of Children Services has said.

The Lipscombs are arranging for new lawyers to represent them because they now are at odds on some issues.