BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota’s Supreme Court has ruled a lesbian couple’s relationship should not deny them custody of two girls, despite their father’s argument that the arrangement provided “the wrong moral character” for the children.

The father, Shawn Damron, did not show the physical or emotional health of the children was endangered or their emotional development impaired by their living arrangement, the high court said. Damron had to provide that evidence to win his custody fight, the justices concluded.

The girls, ages 10 and 4, live with their mother, Valerie Damron of Minot, and her partner, Ann Elliot. Shawn and Valerie Damron divorced in September 2001. Afterward, Valerie Damron began living with Elliot, and they own a home together.

Valerie Damron described the decision as a relief.

“I cannot even express or put into words the strain this has caused,” she said. “I’m relieved, and hopefully this is over.”

Shawn Damron “is a good dad,” his former wife said. “Hopefully, we can come to some kind of working relationship with this.”

Shawn Damron declined comment. His attorney, Tom Slorby of Minot, did not return telephone messages left for comment.

Shawn Damron and Elliot were friends who served together on the Minot Air Force Base, and Shawn Damron introduced Elliot to his wife, court filings say. Damron is still stationed at the base, while Elliot now works as a private security officer.

The Damrons’ divorce agreement said the girls would live with Valerie Damron, and Shawn Damron would have liberal visiting rights.

Shawn Damron knew of his former wife’s sexual orientation when he agreed to the custody arrangement, court documents say. The girls continued living with Valerie Damron and Elliot while the appeal was being decided.

“Shawn Damron does not dispute the oldest child is doing well physically, academically and socially, and he has not noticed any adverse impact on the youngest child,” Justice William Neumann wrote in the court’s unanimous opinion.

“Although Shawn Damron testified Valerie Damron’s homosexual relationship ‘sets the wrong moral character for my children,’ he presented no evidence that the relationship was causing actual or potential harm to the children,” Neumann wrote.

Shawn Damron challenged the custody arrangement in September 2002. North Dakota law makes it more difficult for a parent to win a custody change if the demand is made less than two years after the original decision.

However, Northwest District Judge Gary Holum granted Shawn Damron’s request, relying on a 1981 North Dakota Supreme Court decision that used homosexuality as the reason for giving custody of two children to their heterosexual father.

The decision, called Jacobson v. Jacobson, was written by the court’s chief justice, Gerald VandeWalle. The decision overrules any presumption in a custody case that children are harmed simply by living in a homosexual household, Neumann wrote.

The Supreme Court did not address Valerie Damron’s arguments that her constitutional rights would be violated by a custody change that was based solely on her sexual orientation.

The dispute drew attention from the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, which represented Valerie Damron in the case. Her Minot attorney, Denise Hays, said she did not believe the Supreme Court needed to explore constitutional issues to reach the correct result.

“She was right to begin with. This should never have been a case that went beyond the initial pleadings,” Hays said. “I think it was a frivolous motion to begin with, because there was never any harm shown against these children.”