SAN DIEGO (AP) – A state appeals court has rejected a libel lawsuit that spun off from the widely publicized case of two lesbians who sought to adopt each other’s children.

The 4th District Court of Appeals in San Diego ruled that since one of the women invited publicity for the relationship, she was a public figure who needed to meet a higher standard to prove she was libeled.

The court ruled that the woman, Annette Friskopp, would be unlikely to meet that higher standard in her claim against her former partner. The appeals court ruling was published, which means it can be cited as precedent in future libel cases.

In a 2001 letter to the Gay & Lesbian Times, Sharon Silverstein wrote that Friskopp, her former partner, was “a convicted perpetrator of domestic violence against me.”

Friskopp sued Silverstein the following year, claiming the statement was false and libelous.

In a 30-page opinion issued June 28, Justice Cynthia Aaron concluded that Friskopp was a limited purpose public figure. As a public figure, Friskopp would have to show Silverstein acted with actual malice when she wrote the letter.

Aaron wrote that Friskopp would be unlikely to prove that. While Friskopp had not been convicted of domestic violence in criminal court, a family court found that Friskopp had been abusive to Silverstein, according to the ruling.

The ruling broadens the reach of a 1992 law designed to protect free speech, said Silverstein’s lawyer, Guylyn Cummins.

Silverstein and Friskopp met in 1989 at Harvard Business School and moved to San Diego the following year. In 1992, the couple had a public commitment ceremony and sent announcements to the San Diego Jewish Press. They published a book together and appeared on ABC’s 1996 TV program on same-sex marriage.

Silverstein had a son through artificial insemination in 1996. Friskopp won approval from a county judge for a so-called second-parent adoption, in which a biological parent’s unmarried partner gains parental rights.

Silverstein gave birth to another child in 1999 and Friskopp petitioned for adoption. While the second petition was pending, the couple split up, accusing each other of violence. Silverstein sought to withdraw her consent for the adoption as it was pending.

A trial judge said Silverstein had waited too long to withdraw the adoption consent. But an appeals court said there was no law that even allowed the adoption. Last year, the California Supreme Court ruled in Friskopp’s favor.