‘Homophobic’ mother refused to let children see gay father

A Gauteng mother who refused to let her children see their father because she disapproves of his new homosexual lifestyle has been ordered to immediately restore his contactual rights. She will also have to attend parental guidance classes.

The woman’s husband, a customer service manager, took her to court after she suddenly stopped all contact between him and the children in February, despite their divorce settlement giving him full access.

He said in court papers he had unfettered contact with his children since their divorce in 2014, and while living with a male lover, but the situation changed after they broke up. Where she initially seemed to accept his homosexuality and lifestyle, she gradually started exhibiting her biased attitude and seemed to believe that all homosexual individuals were molesters and paedophiles.

He described her conduct as cruel, malicious and criminal and said she appeared to believe that he and his friends would “infect” their children with the same “disease” and she was now seemingly using the children to punish him.

He said he had loved his wife dearly and had entered into an extramarital relationship with another man in a desperate attempt to maintain his marriage, but in the end had to confess his sexual orientation to her.

He had found emotional support in his good friends, a same-sex married couple, after breaking up with his boyfriend and his children had developed a close relationship with both men, but his former wife objected to the friendship.

She even sent him a lawyer’s letter objecting to him “promoting his sexual orientation and way of living to the children” and subsequently launched a counter-application for an order that he may only have contact with their children in the absence of his two male friends, but the court dismissed her application.

The mother especially objected to the children occasionally sleeping on mattresses in front of the television with her husband and his two friends, but the father said these were innocent movie nights and the children were always under his supervision.

He said a psychologist had already told his wife the children had no difficulties.

– ilsedl@citizen.co.za

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