From the Dallas Voice, a horribly sad situation.

Last July, I wrote about Debie Hackett, who was fighting with her former partner for visitation rights with their son. An appeals court gave her the right to assert her parental rights and sue for visitation and the case was remanded to the lower court. When I spoke to her, she was hopeful that she would be able to see her son soon.

This month she lost her case.

Despondent, Hackett took her own life on Christmas Eve.

Could interpretation of laws to discount a same-sex relationship be the underlying cause of this needless death?

I’m not certain you can say “yes” to that last question. The court system in many states do not support LGBT couples during the process of working out family court issues. However, this story is a reminder that whether it’s same-sex or opposite-sex couples, breakups and custory/visitation battles take a toll on all involved that can result in tragedies like this. It’s hard to pinpoint any one cause other than a person in crisis didn’t get the help she needed in time.