GOP Congressman: Orphanages Better than Gay Adoption

Homophobe GOP Rep. Chris Smith.

The Republican Party continues to be defined in part by anti-gay animus - racism, corporate greed, a betrayal of the Gospel message are other defining elements. This past week Republican Congressman  Chris Smith (R-N.J.) was caught on tape ranting that placing children and youths in orphanages was preferable to allowing children to be adopted by LGBT individuals or couples.  My father was raised from age 3 to age 16 in an orphanage and I can assure yo that Mr. Smith needs to pull his head out of his ass.  While y father was successful in life financially, he never overcame some of the emotional/psychological harm done by an orphanage environment versus that of a loving home with caring, loving parents.   He fortunately, was in the same institution as his siblings (all of whom were cast out at age 16), so the harm was less severe than might otherwise have been the case.  Oh, and did I mention the numerous studied finding that kids with same sex parents do just fine?  O course, none of this matters to Smith who is either a Christian zealot himself or an eager prostitute to gay-hating Christofascists. The Washington Blade looks at Smith's foul batshitery.  Here are highlights:

Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) was caught on tape saying orphanages for kids is better than gay adoption.   In an exchange with high school students that was caught on tape, a Republican congressman from New Jersey was tongue-tied over the prospect of same-sex couples adopting children and suggested kids would be better off in orphanages than with LGBT families.

Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) made the remarks May 29 when addressing student constituents in the auditorium of Colts Neck High School. They asked the congressman about his opposition to adoption by same-sex couples, according to a source familiar with the recording. A source familiar with the tape, who delivered the recording on Monday exclusively to the Washington Blade, said it was obtained in recent days.

The recording begins with Hannah Valdes, a senior at Colts Neck High School, telling Smith she has a gay sister who has said in the future she wants to adopt a child with her partner. The student asks the New Jersey Republican whether “based on household studies” her sister would be “less of a legitimate parent” than someone in a different-sex relationship and why she shouldn’t adopt a child.

Although the Supreme Court settled the issue of marriage, attempts are still underway to deprive LGBT families of the right to adopt. An increasing number of states have passed laws allowing religious-affiliated, taxpayer-funded agencies to refuse placement to LGBT homes for religious reasons. In the U.S. House, Republicans incorporated as a component of appropriations an amendment from Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.) that would penalize states and localities for having policies prohibiting anti-LGBT discrimination in adoption.

But that wasn’t enough for Valdes, who pressed Smith on why he thinks her sister shouldn’t be able to adopt. Smith, apparently having difficulty finding words for his response, said he believes “there are many others who would like to adopt who can acquire a child” and “the waiting periods are extremely long.”

When another student asks what makes these “others” more suited to become parents than her fellow student’s sister, Smith starts to reply, “in my opinion a child needs every possibility of,” without finishing his sentence. That might have been a prelude to saying a child needs every chance of being raised by a mother and a father.

That’s when Smith praised orphanages. In that context, Smith suggested even being raised in an orphanage without parents would be better for a child than having LGBT parents.

Rep. Smith responded by saying that he does not approve of gay adoption because gay households are not healthy environments for children to grow up in,” Valdes said. “He then stated that ‘numerous household studies’ show that children that have heterosexual parents have better lives than children that have homosexual parents.”

It’s hard to know what “household studies” Smith was referencing. According to Cornell University, at least 75 studies have concluded children with same-sex parents fare no worse than other kids.