A family battle that started in Virginia has wound its way to Maryland, where gay father Ulf Hedberg of Rockville asked the state’s second highest court, according to the Sun, to disolve a court order requiring his partner to move out of their home in order for Hedberg to retain custody of his son from a previous marriage. The original order was issued in Virginia, that most gay-friendly of states, where the couple lived when Hedberg was divorcing his wife.

Ulf Hedberg and his ex-wife separated when their son was four years old, and lived in Virginia at the time. Their son lived with Hedgberg and his partner for the next five and a half years. When Hedberg’s ex-wife moved to Florida, she sued for custody. A Virginia court granted Hedberg custody of his son, but his ex-wife obtained a court order requiring Hedberg’s partner to move out of the home. Unable to afford the home on his own, Hedberg moved to a Maryland apartment.

“This,” says one member of Hedberg’s legal team “would never have happened in Maryland. Maybe not, but it happened in Virginia, where a lawyer from the conservative Liberty Counsel says it’s not unusual for a judge to make a single parent forgo having a live-in partner in order to retain child custody. Since there’s no record of the Virginia court proceedings, the reason for the Virginia judge’s ruling remain unknown.