The fight for the LGTB community doesn't just center around the debate for same-sex marriage, but also encompasses the struggle for homosexual couples to adopt children. Thousands of people are affected by anti-gay adoptions laws which are implemented around the country. There are laws that allow married gay and lesbian couples, and couples joined by “civil unions”, to adopt children. There are also laws that will allow a gay or lesbian person to adopt a child by themselves, even if they are living with a "partner", but only by themselves, not as a couple adopting the child together as a family. This type of discrimination is harmful to both parents who want to adopt children, as well as to children who could have a loving family, but is unable to because of hateful laws implemented throughout the country.
After a close look at the opposition to gay and lesbian adoption, I have not found concrete reasons for gay and lesbian couples to be unable to adopt children. Much of the opposition comes from religious groups, and those in the Republican Party. In the article Texas Faces, Fights Anti-Gay Parenting Legislative Efforts by Ellen Wright, a Republican from Stephenville, stated “I believe strongly in the preservation of the traditional family, and I do not believe homosexuals should be allowed to continue adopting children in Texas. By allowing two people of the same sex to adopt children, the state of Texas has been sending a signal that it condones and approves of homosexual activity. I believe homosexuality is immoral, and the state of Texas should not endorse their alternative lifestyle by allowing homosexuals to adopt children.” This argument was used as a reason to create the “Defense of Families Act”, a bill that would stop gay and lesbian couples from being able to adopt in Texas. The article also reports that the state was trying to prevent gay and lesbian couples from being foster parents; such legislation would cost the state $50 million.
In 2005, many states were coming up with amendments to recognize same-sex marriage. Although, we know now that not all of them passed. At least six states came up with anti-gay legislation against adoption by homosexual couples. In the article by Ellen Wright, Six States Face Anti-Gay Foster Care, Adoption Bills, Ellen discuses the six states that were possible adopting anti-gay legislation; Arkansas, Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee, Indiana, and Virginia. Some bills that were looked at by Congress were bills that limited adoption to heterosexual couples, and other bills stopped gay and lesbian people from becoming foster parents. Why shouldn’t gay and lesbian couples be able to adopt? Some arguments in the article Homosexual Rights and the Placement of Children, by Elizabeth Patterson, discusses arguments made for those opposing gay and lesbian adoptions. Those arguments include notions that children are better with heterosexual married couples; that children will be teased by peers if they are placed in homosexual households. Our society has a problem with bullying already, to lay extra blame on the homosexual community is immoral and unjust. Children are being teased all of the time, for many different reasons. The argument that children are better with married couples is an excuse. It seems that this argument is only used when it comes to homosexuals. If a single heterosexual person wanted to adopt a child would there be the same opposition to that adoption? In my research, I have never read about someone getting upset about a single heterosexual person trying to adopt. I believe this is an excuse, and it lacks foundation.
In some states, laws go so far as to say children should only be adopted by married heterosexual couples. In the article My Two Dads? Not in Florida, the author talks about the cases of five homosexual men who were trying to adopt children in Florida in 2004. The lawsuit was struck down by the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals, where the judges upheld Florida’s laws banning both homosexual couples as well as homosexual individuals from adopting children. Florida is the only state that will not allow homosexual individuals to adopt children. Most of the other states do not allow homosexual couples to be able to adopt children, but will allow an individual homosexual person who is not married to adopt a child. However, the article does point out that there are many other states where adoption by homosexual couples is acceptable. The article also reports that around 60 % of adoption agencies around the country accept applications from homosexuals, and those that are resistant seem to be the religious institutions.
Homosexuals have been the target of discrimination for a long time, and will continue to be for an unknown period of time. The LGTB community has overcome many obstacles, including the right to publish magazines, the right to be homosexual, and the right to serve in the military freely. One battle that is still going on, affecting thousands of people, is the fight for the right of adoption. If there is a loving couple who wants to have children, but for whatever reason is not able to bear children, shouldn’t they be allowed to adopt even if they are homosexual? What a child needs most is a stable and loving family, and the family’s sexual orientation shouldn’t matter. I believe that as long as the person, or family, is able to show that they have a loving, supportive, and nurturing environment, they should be able to adopt children and start a family of their own.
References:
Kennedy, John. "My Two Dads? Not in Florida." Christianity Today, 48.4 (2004): 23.
Patterson, Elizabeth. "Homosexual Rights and the Placement of Children." Policy & Practice (19426828), 62.1 (2004): 28.
Wright, Ellen. "Six States Face Anti-Gay Foster Care, Adoption Bills." Lesbian News, 30.8 (2005): 14.
Wright, Ellen. "Texas Faces, Fights Anti-Gay Parenting Legislative Efforts." Lesbian News, 28.9 (2003): 16.
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