Virginia Legislature Passes Anti-Gay Adoption Law

As is being reported all over the media, especially the blogosphere, the Virginia General Assembly has passed legislation that will allow ostensibly "private" adoption agencies which are funded with state tax dollars to turn away LGBT would be adoptive parents. All that remains is for Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell to sign the bill once it hits his desk. That's right, Virginia will be funding agencies that operate as an arm of the state and the agencies will be able to discriminate against tax paying Virginians who are LGBT or otherwise do not conform to the agencies' religious beliefs. The law is obviously unconstitutional and I can't wait for the lawsuits to begin. Meanwhile, gays in Virginia have yet another reason to want to pack up and get the Hell out of Virginia. Here are highlights from The Atlantic:

The Virginia Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would allow adoption agencies to turn away parents based on their moral beliefs (read: sexual orientation), and the governor is expected to sign it into law. The legislature added a "conscience clause" to an adoption bill earlier this month, that The Washington Post reported "would allow state-funded, faith-based agencies to choose which parents are suitable for adoption based on the agencies' beliefs." Of course, Democratic legislators quickly pointed out that the bill was mostly aimed at agencies that don't want to allow gay people to adopt. (Gay couples can't adopt anyway, because Virginia doesn't recognize their marriage or allow adoption by non-married couples of any gender.)

North Dakota is the only other state with a similar law. Opponents point out that the bill allows even non-religiously affiliated adoption agencies to discriminate against potential adopters based on sexual orientation. But supporters say that religiously affiliated adoption agencies need the protection lest they get shut down. Democrats tried to amend the legislation and introduce their own, but the Republican majority won out.

This law is but one more strong signal to progressive businesses and entrepreneurs that they should strike Virginia off their list of potential business locations or, if they are already in the state, to consider leaving.