Gay Parenting

Gay Parenting

Recently, the debate over same-sex couples and their right to adopt children, caught

my attention.

Last year I was watching a news program about Rosie O'Donnel, an actress, and

her decision to "come out of the closet." That story then turned into another story,

about her support of a gay couple and their fight with the state of Florida. The couple,

both men, are the foster parents of five children born with HIV. Three of the children

have been with them since infancy, including the child at the center of the dispute. The

state's position is, because he no longer test positive for HIV and is under the age of

fourteen , he's deemed adoptable. So, they're now looking for a heterosexual couple to

adopt him. These two men have been parents to these children in every conceivable way,

and in some cases the only ones they've ever known.

Now, I'm not homosexual nor do I know anyone who is. But as a parent, it certainly

caught my interest. Even on the assumption that heterosexual households are better for

children , some restrictions on gay parenting are hard to fathom. There are currently

some 3600 children , in Florida's foster care system, illegible for adoption. For some of

these children, the alternative to gay parents maybe no parents at all.

The state of Florida prohibits any gay person from adopting. Certainly, Florida isn't

the only state with such laws. Only six states explicitly allow adoptions by homosexuals.

Other states, like Mississippi and Utah , allow only married couples to adopt. When the

U.S supreme court refused to hear an appeal of a lower court decision to uphold Florida's

ban on gay adoptions. Marvin O'lasky , world editor of the christian news magazine,

reacted " good, maybe more states will now pass legislation protecting kids from gay

adoptions."

Some law- makers and judges in other states do indeed share a horror of gay

parenthood. In 2003, Texas legislator Robert Talton told the house of representative, as

he introduced a bill to ban gay foster parenting. "If it was me, I would rather kids in

orphanages as such this is where they are now, if they're not fostered out. At least they'll