LGBT Adoption
The First Latin American Country to Legalize Gay Adoption
Published September 10, 2009 @ 03:15AM PT
Uruguay took a bold step forward for LGBT rights, by becoming the first Latin American country to legalize adoption by gay and lesbian parents. The country also took a bold stand against the Catholic Church, which fought hard to prevent gays and lesbians from receiving parenting rights.
Seventeen Uruguayan Senators voted for the bill legalizing adoption for gays and lesbians, which earlier passed a lower House in Uruguay's legislature. The bill is expected to be signed into law by Uruguay's President, Tabare Vazquez.
One of the best reasons for passing this bill came from ruling party Sen. Margarita Percovich. "Whether the couple is gay or not should not be a matter of consideration," said Percovich. "What matters is if the family is able to educate and stimulate the child to grow as a fulfilled human being."
Damn, if only she could run for office in Arkansas (which in 2008 banned adoption by gay and lesbian people).
The Catholic Church in Uruguay, not missing a beat to say something homophobic, said that gay adoption contradicts human nature. The Archbishop of Montevideo expressed sadness that the bill passed.
But while the Catholic Church expresses sadness, kids up for adoption can take comfort in the fact that even more qualified parents are now legally able to raise children in Uruguay.
Talking About Gay Adoption in Louisiana
Published August 06, 2009 @ 02:37PM PT
Members of Louisiana's Commission on Marriage and the Family heard from several equal rights advocates today - members of Louisiana's Forum for Equality - hoping to push the state of Louisiana to ease restrictions that prevent gay or lesbian couples from jointly adopting children. Currently, while Louisiana allows straight couples and single people to adopt, the state bars committed gay and lesbian couples from adopting jointly. Which means that while I could adopt a child, my partner would have no legal parental rights to that child (and vice versa).
Pretty unjust. What's worse? The Commission today seemed repulsed by the idea of gay adoption. At least, that's how a couple of papers are spinning today's meeting.
Commission member Gene Mills, who incidentally directs a right-wing religious organization known as the Louisiana Family Forum, said that LGBT adoption has no place in a state (like Louisiana) that has banned gay marriage. "I really believe, as was stated earlier, that every child deserves not just two parents, but a mother and a father," Mills said, according to nola.com.
And then there's Rep. Frank Hoffmann, a Republican Louisiana legislator and also member of the state's Commission. For him, LGBT adoption runs counter to the idea of marriage and family. From the Times-Picayune:
Hoffman said while it was "appropriate" to hear from the Forum for Equality on the issue, the state should be looking at policies and laws that "will affect marriage and families to make life better for all in Louisiana." The pitch by Tucker, he said, was "at odds with the purposes of this commission. ... I don't see this (concept) going anywhere."
Personally, it seems strange that Louisiana would have a tax-payer funded commission dedicated to marriage discrimination. But beyond that, it's in the worst interests for Louisiana's children, both those up for adoption as well as those in the foster care system, to prevent gay and lesbian couples from joint adoption.
No legitimate study exists that says gay or lesbian adoption harms children. Rather, a plethora of studies exist showing the exact opposite - that children of gay or lesbian parents flourish, and are just as well balanced as children of straight parents.
Again, it looks like partisan politics by conservative religious groups are getting in the way of serving the best interests of kids. It happened in Arkansas last November. And if politicos in Louisiana get their way, it's a pattern that will continue in that state, too.
The Rise of the "Gaybe" Boom
Published August 04, 2009 @ 07:53AM PT
Twenty percent of gay and lesbian couples have children under 18, which has led researchers to come up with a term to describe this generation of kids. They're not Gen X, Gen Y, or Millennials, but rather children of "The Gaybe Boom," or "The Gaybe Boom generation."
And this generation of kids are just as well balanced and healthy as children of heterosexual parents. That's according to data collected as part of the National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study, a 23-year study out of the University of California, San Francisco, which found that children of same-sex parents have an even deeper appreciation for diversity and social justice. Here's what Dr. Nanette Gartrell told ABC News about children of the "Gaybe" boom:
Most offspring of same-sex parents are heterosexual as adults. By the time our study kids were 10 years old, they demonstrated a sophisticated understanding of diversity and tolerance, and an appreciation of the destructive effects of discrimination.
The ABC News story here is an interesting read behind LGBT parenting - both from the perspective of children being raised by same-sex parents, and by parents who struggle with a culture that all-too-quickly assumes that a child has a mother and a father rather than two moms or two dads. Is the phenomenon of LGBT parenting transforming gay culture?
Perhaps, at least according to Johann Hari, a writer for the UK's Independent Newspaper. Here's his thoughts:
This is all part of a slow shift that is transforming gay culture. During the twentieth century, our battle was to find a place of our own where we could be safely different, and recover some shreds of self-esteem. After millennia of being told our difference was a sickness, we needed a moment to celebrate that difference.
But after that was achieved, our goal changed. We started to realise - once we had the space - that we are actually very similar to our straight siblings. We have the same desire for stability and home-building as everyone else. Our tune changed from "I Am What I Am" to "I Am What You Are." We wanted enough basic equality to have everything straight people have. It started with demands for marriage - and the logical next step is children.
There's a tinge of sarcasm in Hari's comments, and certainly not every LGBT person (just like not every straight person) is looking to settle down and raise a family. But the point is that for those who are choosing to have children (whether biologically or through adoption), those children are turning out just as well balanced and normal as the offspring of heterosexual parents.
In the wake of last November's fracas in Arkanasas, where the state eliminated the right of gay and lesbian parents to adopt children, it's important to reiterate that message. Children of same-sex parents, despite what the state of Arkansas thought, are not a threat.
And neither are LGBT parents.
LGBT Parents are Not a Threat to their Adopted Children
Published July 01, 2009 @ 01:36PM PT
The radical right in this country certainly does like to scapegoat LGBT parents whenever some sort of controversy comes up. Case in point, a story out of Durham, North Carolina where a very, very troubled individual, Frank Lombard, was arrested for inviting another man to travel to North Carolina in order to molest his adopted 5-year-old son. Change.org's excellent Human Trafficking blogger, Amanda Kloer, has more on the case here.
The right-wing in this country, led by Christian News Wire and the Grassroots Network of the Republican Party of Virginia (RPV Network), are seeking to take this case and use it as a means of bashing gay adoption. Because, you see, the parent in question happened to be gay. Already, here's what folks with those two groups have had to say about the Lombard case:
RPV Network: The question remains whether this pattern of child sexual abuse and male homosexuals will be seen as a validation of some studies which suggest that homosexual men are more than 40 times more likely than the general population to molest.
Christian News Wire: (With the headline, no less, of: "Lombard Demonstrates Why Gays Should Not be Allowed to Adopt") The on-line rape of his 5-year-old adopted son by Duke University's openly-gay, Frank Lombard, is no anomaly. Instead, Lombard's molestation fits the pattern that emerged in the latest review of the...literature about gay fathers.
It's downright disgusting that these right-wing organizations are seeking to turn this tragic case into a referendum on LGBT adoption. Leave it to the right-wing in this country to turn exploitation into...well, more exploitation.
Frank Lombard's case is tragic. His actions are disgusting (if they are true), as very few things are more repugnant than child molestation and human trafficking. But this is not a case about gay adoption. This is a case about a disturbed man failing on every level as a parent.
To make this a case about LGBT adoption, like Christian News Wire and the social networking site of the Republican Party of Virginia are doing, is a grotesque move of political theater. It would be like saying, "Because Governor Mark Sanford cheated on his wife, conservative Christians shouldn't be allowed to get married." (Or travel to Argentina...or whatever absurd comment you want to put here.)
Every mainstream scientific study out there asserts that LGBT people are extremely well qualified to be parents, and every mainstream study demonstrates that children who grow up in LGBT homes are just as balanced as children who grow up in straight homes.
That's important to remember, especially as radical conservative groups in this country seek to spin the Lombard case into a debate over gay adoption.
(Photo courtesy of (addict2pics)'s photostream on Flickr!)
