Gay Parenting - Next Skirmish in the Culture War

Emboldened by their victories in Arizona, Arkansas, California, and Florida - even though time and generational change is not on their side long term - the Christianists are expected by some to extend their anti-gay jihad and efforts to further make LGBT people second class citizens by seeking to eliminate adoption and foster parenting rights by gays and lesbians. Candidly, the Christianists don't give a rat's ass about children needing loving homes - it's all about passing laws that give credence/justification to their bigotry and efforts to denigrate and marginalize gays. Just as the anti-gay marriage amendments were not really about protecting marriage, neither will these efforts be about the best interests of orphaned children. Here are some highlights from today's Chicago Tribune which looks at this new battle ground:

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Arkansas adoption ban passes despite shortage of homes for needy children. The measure was written to prohibit straight and gay people who are living together from adopting or becoming foster parents, but its real objective, child welfare experts say, is to bar same-sex couples like Shelley and Ross, 52, from raising children—even if it means youngsters who desperately need families will wait longer.

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"We don't have enough quality homes as it is, and now we're going to place more restrictions?" asked Susan Hoffpauir, president of the Arkansas chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. "A lot of us are still shell-shocked by this." . . . [M]any Americans are opposed to placing kids in gay households, and social conservatives hope the issue will rally voters in the same way that same-sex marriage has in recent elections.

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But beyond the state system, the ban set to take effect Jan. 1 will thwart private adoptions of children like Eva Mae, left at a Vietnamese orphanage with nothing but a yellow blanket and a gaping hole where her upper lip should have been. Moreover, opponents say the new law could jeopardize a wide range of non-traditional living arrangements, such as co-habitating grandparents raising grandchildren, and are not sure how far-reaching the impact will be.

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Some 129,000 U.S. children are in foster care, and the only criteria should be who can best provide a loving, permanent home, according to Adam Pertman, executive director of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute. In a recent report, the non-partisan group concluded that a national ban on gay adoptions could add $87 million to $130 million to foster care expenditures annually because these children would then be living in other types of institutional care, such as group homes."On its face, this [Arkansas] law is just crazy," Pertman said. "I fear what will happen if other states see this as a model."

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The American Civil Liberties Union is weighing a legal challenge to the ban. But people are afraid to bring attention to their families, said Rita Sklar, executive director of the ACLU in Arkansas.