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THE TRANSCRIPTS

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE THIRTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT

IN AND FOR SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA

FAMILY LAW DIVISION

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE THIRTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT

JOSEPH & REBECCA CONNELLY

Petitioner/Maternal Grandparents,

vs.

LUKE CANNON (NéE LEVI CONNELLY)

Respondent/Maternal Uncle .

APPEARING ON BEHALF OF

THE PETITIONER/MATERNAL GRANDPARENTS:

CHRISTIAN M. DENNON, ESQ.

APPEARING ON BEHALF OF

THE RESPONDENT/MATERNAL UNCLE:

LORI S. MASON, ESQ.

THEREUPON,

the witnesses herein, having been first duly sworn, were examined and testified as follows:

DIRECT EXAMINATION

BY Ms. Mason

Ms. Mason : Luke, how are you doing today?

Luke Cannon : As good as I can be, Lori.

Ms. Mason : I’d like to start by asking about your morning. Was it relatively normal or were there deviations to your schedule?

Luke Cannon : It was normal, for the most part.

Ms. Mason : Can you walk us through it?

Luke Cannon : Sure. My husband, Dean, and I woke up this morning at 5:30.

We did a quick workout together in our home gym and then at 6:45, my niece, Ollie woke up.

Dean got her changed and dressed while I woke up her older sisters, Lemmie and Mellie.

I hung out with the twins in their room for a few minutes, and then we all went downstairs for breakfast. Dean made strawberry pancakes—those are the kids’ favorite—and the five of us ate around the table.

Lem and Mel have recently gotten into painting every wall in the house some shade of pink, and they asked if they could do our bedroom next.

Ms. Mason : Are you and your husband going to have a pink bedroom in the near future, Luke?

Luke Cannon : I think so. My girls are total pro-negotiators, just like their mom was.

Ms. Mason : And after breakfast, what did you do then?

Luke Cannon : I supervised Lemmie and Mellie while they brushed their teeth and packed their backpacks while Dean prepared Ollie’s diaper bag, and then we walked them next door to their best friend, Cami’s house. Cami’s dad is Dean’s brother-in-law, and he’s watching them today while we’re here.

Ms. Mason : Wow, a brother-in-law right next door. That must really come in handy.

Luke Cannon : It does. Warren is a total saint. He loves the kids, and the girls love spending time with their best friend. Since Cami is right next door, they get to be together as much as they like.

Ms. Mason : Does Cami’s mom help with the kids, too?

Luke Cannon : She does. Kira is Dean’s sister, and she was good friends with my sister Gigi before she passed.

She’s known the girls for pretty much their whole lives.

If we weren’t all here today, she’d probably be hanging out in our backyard, drinking iced tea with me and Dean while the kids play soccer.

Ms. Mason : Wow. That sounds almost perfect. It must be nice for the girls to have so many people who care about them so close by.

Luke Cannon : It’s nice for me and Dean, too.

Ms. Mason : Do the children like spending time with you and Dean?

Luke Cannon : Oh, definitely. Dean especially.

Lem and Mel are his little shadows. They follow him around all day long, begging to play and read stories.

But if they aren’t with their friends or at school or dance class, they want to be with us.

We’ve recently started teaching them flag football, and it’s been a blast.

Ms. Mason : And Ollie?

Luke Cannon : Ollie is the coolest little kid. She’s turning one this weekend, I can hardly believe it. We plan to do one of those smash-cake photo shoots this weekend to celebrate.

Ms. Mason : What flavor?

Luke Cannon : It will be her first time trying cake, so we’re going safe with vanilla. But the pink and green icing is sure to make for some fun, messy photos.

Ms. Mason : That sounds like a delight. Does Ollie enjoy spending time with you as well?

Luke Cannon : I’d like to think so. She’s been trying to say my name, but she only gets as far as “Loo”. And she loves using her doll’s brushes on my hair. I have the bruises to prove it.

Ms. Mason : Luke, I’d like to ask about your sister, Gigi. I’m sorry for your loss.

Luke Cannon : Thank you. I am, too.

Ms. Mason : You and your sister were close, correct?

Luke Cannon : We were. She took care of me for most of my life, and she became my full-time caregiver when we left our parent’s home twenty-one years ago.

Ms. Mason : You were thirteen when you left home?

Luke Cannon : That is correct.

Ms. Mason : And Gigi was eighteen?

Luke Cannon : Yes .

Ms. Mason : Did you leave with her willingly?

Luke Cannon : I did. Gigi had been saving what little money she was able to squirrel away over the years to buy us a couple of bus tickets and a few months rent. It was something we’d been planning for a long time.

Ms. Mason : Why were the two of you set on leaving your childhood home?

Luke Cannon : Because…

Ms. Mason : It’s okay, Luke. Take your time.

Luke Cannon : Our parents were abusive. Joseph believes in corporal punishment.

He believes that his God deemed him the head of our household and that meant it was his responsibility to beat the sin out of my sister and me.

We were frequently hit, kicked, and punched for what he saw as our transgressions.

Ms. Mason : That is horrible. What about your mother? Did she ever try to stop your father from hurting you and your sister?

Luke Cannon : No. Rebecca never laid a hand on us herself, but she is not without fault. She bore witness to most of the beatings, and afterward, she would remind us that what had happened was God’s will, and if we’d only stop being little sinners, Joseph wouldn’t have to punish us.

Ms. Mason : What do you think those supposed sins were ?

Luke Cannon : Any kind of misbehaving, Joseph would call a sin. But the big one…he believed that Gigi was a sinner at her core, and I’m sure he would say the same of me now.

Ms. Mason : Why would a father believe his children are inherently bad?

Luke Cannon : My sister was a lesbian, and I’m gay.

My father’s church believes that homosexuality is a sin of the highest order.

I’ve listened to countless sermons where he has called for the mass round-up and execution of queer people.

My parents didn’t know about my sexuality when I was young, but they suspected my sister’s.

The worst beating I ever received was a punishment for Gigi when my mother caught her getting physically close with another young girl from school.

Joseph beat me bloody that night, and he forced Gigi to watch.

I wish I could say that was the only time, but it was only one of the last. Six months later, Gigi brought me to California.

Ms. Mason : I’m so sorry that happened to you. I couldn’t imagine willingly inflicting pain onto my children like that.

Luke Cannon : Neither can I.

Ms. Mason : So is it safe to assume that you don’t believe in corporal punishment for your nieces?

Luke Cannon : Absolutely not. I’d take my own life before I laid a hand on one of my girls .

Ms. Mason: And what if Lemmie, Mellie, or Ollie were to tell you one day that their sexual preferences or gender identity didn’t align with what you see for them? If they were to come out as trans or gay or asexual?

Luke Cannon : What I see for my kids is a life of happiness.

A life full of love and light. Regardless of who they find attractive, what kind of relationships they want to have or whether their gender identity matches their assigned sex at birth, none of that matters to me.

I want them to be who they’re going to be and love who they’re going to love, because they deserve every bit of happiness.

Lemmie, Mellie and Ollie were my sister’s entire world. They’re my entire world.

Ms. Masom : Do you think that Joseph and Rebecca feel the same way? Do you think, if they were to secure custody today, that the children would be safe to…as you say…be who they are and love who they love?

Luke Cannon : Absolutely not. I don’t think my kids would be safe with Joseph and Rebecca whatsoever.

Ms. Mason : Dean McKenna, you and I go way back, don’t we?

Dean McKenna : Well, our families do, anyway.

Ms. Mason : For those of you who don’t know, my father, Leonard S. Mason, represented Dean’s fathers in the court of family law in Fox Hole, Tennessee about thirty-six years ago.

Dean McKenna : That’s right. My sister and I were born via surrogate, our Tía Camila, and your dad helped our dads with the legality of becoming a family.

Ms. Masom : It was groundbreaking stuff back then. I remember my dad had a hard time hiding his excitement. He’s a lifelong Knoxville Crushers fan, so representing Jay McKenna was a dream job.

Dean McKenna : We’re grateful to him. It’s strange to think that just a short time ago, it was so damn difficult for two men in love to have a legal right to their children. But I guess that's why we’re here today, too.

Ms. Mason : I’d like to ask you more about your family, if that’s okay.

Dean McKenna : Please.

Ms. Mason : Are you aware of your biological connections to your parents?

Dean McKenna : I am. My sister and I had genetic screenings done when we were young so that our parents and us would have a better understanding of our medical histories.

Ms. Mason : Would you mind sharing what you learned about your genetic makeup?

Dean McKenna : Sure. Biologically, Camila Di Maria is my mother. She donated her eggs and carried both my sister and me. The rest of my genetic material comes from my father, Jay. My sister and I share the same mother, but her other half comes from our other father, Keith.

Ms. Mason : So you’re not technically related to your father, Keith?

Dean McKenna : Pops and I don’t share DNA, but that doesn’t make him any less my father.

Ms. Mason : And Camila. You call her Tía, not Mom?

Dean McKenna : Correct.

Ms. Mason : Would you say biological relation holds weight in how you see your family?