Gay-Rights Provision Stripped from Virginia Adoption Regulations

Once again it has been made painfully obvious to LGBT Virginians that we are viewed as less than human. In this case, the message is in the form of the stripping of non-discrimination provisions from proposed regulations of the Virginia Department of Social Services which licenses adoption and foster care agencies that function in essence as an extension of the Commonwealth of Virginia itself. Yes, sadly the hate merchants at The Family Foundation and similar foul and toxic Christianist organizations cowed state bureaucrats into shredding the concept of religious freedom and throwing it down the toilet. My advice to those LGBT individuals and couples or progressive businesses contemplating a move to Virginia: Don't do it. Run screaming from Virginia and let it be known why you refuse to relocate to a state still run as a quasi-Christianist theocracy. The situation in Virginia is disgusting and it underscores the lie that the United States is a beacon of liberty and religious freedom. Here are highlights from the Richmond Times-Dispatch:
*
The Virginia Board of Social Services voted 7-2 this afternoon to approve revised adoption regulations, removing language that would have barred discrimination against potential adoptive parents based on sexual orientation.
*
The board voted to remove that language after hearing from a string of commenters.
*
The final regulations move on in the approval process. The regulations feature with prohibitions on discrimination in adoption based on race, color and national origin.
*
The Virginia Pilot has additional details on the triumph of hate and religious based bigotry. Here are additional highlights:
*
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Virginia's social services board voted Wednesday to reject proposed regulations that would have prohibited adoption agencies from discriminating against prospective parents because they're gay.
*
The state's Board of Social Services voted 7-2 to strip that protection from proposed regulations. The vote came despite objections from some board members who said they didn't have enough time to examine the issue after the state Department of Social Services removed the provision late last week under the advice of Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.
*
Cuccinelli advised the board last week that it did not have the authority to prohibit private - often faith-based - agencies from discriminating based on sexual orientation because state and federal law do not offer such protections.
*
Virginia allows adoption by married couples and singles, regardless of sexual orientation. But it does not allow unmarried couples to adopt. Rob Keeling brought his 6-year-old son to Wednesday's meeting. Keeling, who is gay, adopted the boy from Guatemala in 2005.
*
"I did not hear anybody today talk about the best interest of the children," he told the board before the vote. "I heard them talk about their own religious beliefs.
*
"Children don't come into the world wanting homes that have specific religious beliefs," he continued. "I think they come into the world wanting love - and I know that I have that to offer." Keeling said 3,350 same-sex couples in Virginia are raising more than 6,000 children, based on data from the Family Equality Council.
*
Department officials said there are 1,300 children in foster care statewide who are eligible to be adopted. "We have more than enough homes to go around," he said. "We have red tape and prejudice in the way."
*
If at least 25 people request that the public comment period be reopened because of a "substantive change," it must happen. Claire Guthrie Gastanaga, a lobbyist for gay rights organization Equality Virginia and a former chief deputy attorney general, said she believes that could happen. If not, the regulations will end up on the desk of Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell, who likely will sign them. They would take effect in 30 days.
*
Religion is truly one of the greatest scourges on this planet and I again find myself believing a world in which Christianity has become a dead religion would be a far better place than what we have at present. As for Virginia, if circumstances were different, I'd leave the state forever tomorrow. Meanwhile, PLEASE ask that the public comment period be reopened.