The entrance of Judge Sanders failed to fill Lily with hope. Despite the fact that he was supposedly the official property of the McGilly family, the judge’s dour expression did not inspire confidence. Stooped and scowling, he looked as ancient and stodgy as some of the living fossils on the
Judge Sanders croaked at the Maycombs’ attorney to make his opening remarks. Stephen J.
Hamilton stood before the judge, wearing a suit that probably cost more than the sum total of all the clothing Lily had bought in her life. His artfully woven hair, his bronze skin — everything about him said big-shot, big-city lawyer. Lily hoped that Judge Sanders wasn’t impressed by flashy appearances.
“Your honor,” Hamilton began, “I am here to speak today about the value of a child. Those of us in this courtroom who are parents know the joy of holding a new baby for the first time, and any good parent will tell you that a child is more precious than diamonds, more valuable than gold.” Lily watched the gold and diamond ring glint on his right hand. “The value of a happy child, a loved child, a child raised by strict but loving parents in a morally sound home, is immeasurable. These children are worth more than their weight in diamonds and gold. These children are our country’s most valuable resource, for in their tiny hands, is our future.
“But,” Hamilton said, letting his tone grow somber. “What about the other children? Children raised in morally unfit homes? Children without a real mother and father to love them, to discipline them, to teach them right from wrong? What about these children’s future? And how will these children affect our future? Will they grow up to be criminals, drug users, moral degenerates—all because of the lack of a suitable family environment?
“Today we are here to determine the future of one child. The child in question, Mimi Maycomb, is not yet two years old, still innocent, still reasonably untouched despite the circumstances into which she was born.
“Children don’t ask to be born, after all. But some children are lucky. They are born to a mother and father who are married in the eyes of God and the state, a mother and father who have the spiritual, moral, and financial capability to properly care for them.” He stopped to sip from a paper cup of water, then looked up with sorrowful eyes. “Other children are not so lucky. They are born into impoverished, single-parent homes. They are born to irresponsible parents who neglect or abuse them. Or they are born into homes that are so morally degenerate that they will never learn how to follow the correct moral and spiritual paths. This last breed of children suffers from the worst type of poverty of all—moral poverty.
Mimi Maycomb is one of these morally impoverished children.”
In her seat, Lily gripped the edge of the table as though it were the safety bar on a rapidly plummeting roller coaster. She looked at Buzz Dobson sitting there in his stained and rumpled seersucker suit, with a placid, bovine expression. It was all she could do to stop herself from biting her nails.
“Let me share with the court,” Hamilton continued, “the story of Mimi Maycomb’s birth.” He smiled, revealing a mouthful of perfectly white, capped teeth. “The story’s a little more complicated than the story of most births, so bear with me. Charles and Ida Maycomb, the fine folks sitting over there at the petitioner’s table, are the parents of the now-deceased Charlotte Maycomb. I have no idea why this happened, because I know Charles and Ida to be good parents.. . still, no matter how good a shepherd is, one of his sheep will stray. Charlotte Maycomb strayed from her parents’ guidance and entered into a homosexual relationship with the respondent, Lily McGilly, nee Fox.”
Judge Sanders’ scowl might have been the same one he had been wearing, but Lily felt it was now directed at her. Just as she was about to resort to nail biting, she felt the comforting hand of Jeanie McGilly on her shoulder. Once again, she was overcome by the depth of the McGillys’ supportiveness.
Big Ben had taken his first day off in the history of the Confederate Sock Mill to be with them at the
“Miss Maycomb and Miss Fox,” Hamilton continued, “decided to do that which no two women can do naturally: They decided to have a child.” Hamilton paused, Lily assumed, to let this scandalous bit of information sink in. “With the use of a sperm donation, they conceived the baby through completely artificial means. And so this was the home into which Mimi Maycomb was born, a home in which homosex-yoo-ality” — he stretched the word out, making it sound extra nasty—“was the norm. A home in which both parents wore the pants in the family, and both parents were women. A home in which books and films depicting homosexual acts could be found. A home where the only regular guests were other homosexuals. A home where no definition of normality could be found.”
Hamilton took another sip of water, then continued, “When Charlotte Maycomb died in the spring of this year, she left a will that specified that custody of Mimi should be awarded to Lily Fox, her homosexual lover. My clients, Mr. and Mrs. Maycomb, are suing Lily McGilly, née Fox, for the custody of their granddaughter, Mimi Maycomb. They regret that their daughter strayed from their teachings and believe that by raising Mimi in a loving, Christian home, both they and Mimi can have a second chance.”
He glanced at the table where Lily, Buzz, and Ben sat. “According to Georgia state law, the court may terminate custody if the child is deprived and if the deprivation the child suffers will likely result in physical, mental, moral, or emotional harm. Mimi Maycomb is not a physically deprived child. I have no doubt that, as Mr. Dobson will tell you, her basic physical needs are provided for. But what of her moral needs? What of the need to be raised in a morally fit home in which her guardians serve as good models for her future behavior? Just as a child deprived of food lacks proper physical nourishment, Mimi Maycomb lacks proper moral nourishment. She hungers for the court to do the right thing—to put her in a home where she herself can grow up to do the right thing and to be a decent, normal young lady.