http://www.advocate.com/news_detail.asp?id=17800A gay father should be given a chance to present evidence that his son was harmed by a Virginia court ruling that he would have to give up custody of the boy unless his partner moved out of the house, the Maryland court of appeals ruled. The state's second highest court reversed a Montgomery County, Md., circuit court judge's decision to dismiss the complaint by the father, Ulf Hedberg, without giving his lawyers a chance to present evidence. In a ruling issued Monday, the appeals court sent the case back to the circuit court for a full hearing. "The father is now given his day in court to show why the restriction...has been hurting the child and should be modified," said Susan Sommer, a Lambda Legal lawyer who helped represent Hedberg in the appeals court. "The
court concluded that the father had presented...a number of facts showing that the child was only being hurt by having the longtime partner restricted from living in the family home."