Lisa Miller - AP Authorities and journalists are hot on the trail of an ex-lesbian who fled the US with her daughter two years ago and is being hidden by members of a Christian denomination she has embraced. Lisa Miller is believed to be hiding out in Nicaragua with her nine-year-old daughter Isabella, who she had via artificial insemination while living in a Vermont civil union with Janet Jenkins, who never adopted the child. In 2003 Miller decided to return to Virginia and Christianity, where she reportedly refused her ex-partner contact with the child to 'protect her from her influences'. Jenkins was awarded parental and visitation rights by a Vermont court, however Miller eventually refused further visits claiming Isabella was showing signs of trauma. Jenkins was ultimately awarded full custody, but Miller had disappeared with the child. The FBI and Interpol are trailing Miller, as are Associated Press reporters. A Nicaraguan Mennonite, who said he had seen Miller and her daughter on one occasion, has told the Associated Press that Mennonites and Quakers were helping Miller for the same reason they had helped runaway slaves escape to Canada during the years preceding the American Civil War. "God's Holy Law never recognises a gay marriage," said Pablo Yoder, a Mennonite pastor in Nicaragua, in an email to AP. "Thus, the Nicaraguan Brotherhood felt it right and good to help Lisa not only free herself from the so called civil marriage and lesbian lifestyle, but especially to protect her nine-year-old daughter from being abducted and handed over to an active lesbian and a whole-hearted activist." Miller is believed to have flown to Nicaragua in late 2009 with the help of Mennonite pastor Timo Miller, who is not related. He is currently awaiting trial, accused by the FBI of abetting a kidnapping. Supporters have written on the website TimoMiller.org: "To those of us who are observing the situation, the accusation begs a question. How can a biologically unrelated individual who has not gone through the adoption process even have 'parental' rights in the first place? Homosexual marriages are not recognized federally, nor are they recognized by most states. In fact, most states have specific prohibitions banning homosexual marriage, helping to prevent a situation like this from occurring."
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 29th June 2011 - 1:34pm