Virginia House Panel Endorses Anti-Gay Adoption Discrimination

Dealing yet another blow to LGBT Virginians - and basically flipping all of us the middle finger - a Virginia House of Delegates panel has approved a "conscience clause" in adoption regulations that will allow Christian and other self-congratulatory religious bigots to openly discriminate against gays and others they don't like. Even as the receive state funds and act as de facto state agencies. So much for freedom of religion for all citizens in Virginia. Once again we see far right Christians given special rights not afforded to anyone else. If the legislation passes the General Assembly and is signed into law by Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell, one can only hope that a legal challenge is promptly filed in federal court. Here are highlights from the Washington Post on this latest Republican Party of Virginia effort to legalize religious based hate and bigotry and to denigrate and marginalize the lives of LGBT Virginians:

Private, faith-based adoption agencies would be allowed to deny placement of a child if doing so would violate their religious beliefs, including opposition to homosexuality, under legislation advanced by a House of Delegates on Tuesday.

The Health, Welfare and Institutions Committee voted 14-5 to send Del. Todd Gilbert’s “conscience clause” bill to the House floor. Gilbert, R-Woodstock, said his bill protects religious freedom.

Virginia has 120 local departments of social services, which administer adoption and foster care services. There are 77 state-licensed private child placement agencies that local departments can contract with to provide those services.

Along with allowing private agencies to deny placements based on religious tenets, the bill would bar the Department of Social Services from denying or revoking an agency’s license solely because it refused to place a child based on sexual orientation. It also would shield agencies from legal actions stemming from such decisions.

Have I mentioned how much I hate Virginia? Seriously, but for my relationship with the Boyfriend, I'd leave this theocratic backwater as soon as I could shut down the law firm and pack my belongings.

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:
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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.
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The board voted to remove that language after hearing from a string of commenters.
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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.
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The Virginia Pilot has additional details on the triumph of hate and religious based bigotry. Here are additional highlights:
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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"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.
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"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.
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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."
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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.
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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.

McDonnell and Neanderthal Members of the GOP Oppose Gay Adoption Proposal

I noted this morning the controversy raging here in Virginia over proposed changes to the rules of the Department of Social Services that would clearly permit same sex couples to adopt or be foster parents (same sex couple adoption is currently a gray area where no express prohibition exists) . In addition, church affiliated and private adoption agencies would be barred from discriminating against gay parents. Needless to say, paid political whores like Maggie Gallagher and Victoria Cobb at The Family Foundation who cracks her whip over Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell and others in the Republican Party of Virginia like some Nazi dominatrix had their panties in a major knot over the concept of treating gay couples as potential responsible parents. Add to that the verbal diarrhea issuing from Delegate Bob Marshall - who has admitted that he'd like to drive gays from Virginia - and it was only a matter of time before McDonnell knuckled under and embraced religious based bigotry that would make Thomas Jefferson vomit. Here are highlights from the Washington Post on McDonnell's sell to the propaganda of today's successors to the Nazi stigmatization and denigration of LGBT citizens:

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Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) told reporters at a Tuesday news conference that he opposes proposed regulations developed by his Democratic predecessor that would for the first time allow gay couples to adopt children in Virginia.
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“I know I had said during the campaign that I would essentially keep our adoption laws -- which I think are good -- the way they are now,’’ McDonnell said. “I think the current regulations that are in place seem to be working well.”
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Currently, only married couples and single men and women — regardless of sexual orientation — can adopt in Virginia.
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The proposal, according to the governor’s office, would mandate that gay singles and unmarried couples be able to access faith-based groups, such as Catholic Charities and Jewish Family Services, to adopt children.
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“I don’t think we ought to force Catholic Charities to make that part of their policy or other similar situated groups,’’ McDonnell said. “Many of our adoption agencies are faith-based groups that ought to be able to establish what their own policies are. Current regulations that say you can’t discriminate on the basis of race, color or national origin I think are proper. I think previous efforts to expand that to a number of other classes are going to have very strict scrutiny to make sure that we don’t inhibit the very fine work some faith-based organizations are doing.”
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McDonnell has until April 16 to make a recommendation to the State Board of Social Services, a nine-member panel of which all but four members are holdovers from Kaine.
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My suggestion - exempt the religious affiliated organizations, but only if they give up 100% of all state, federal and federal funding that they are receiving. They want the right to discriminate against citizens, then don't expect a single penny of public funds of any nature. Meanwhile, Bob Marshall - who I hope and pray gets caught some day in a Larry Craig like incident - does all he can to fan the flames of anti-gay hatred among the Kool-Aid drinker set. Here are highlights from The Advocate:
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Bob Marshall (pictured), a member of the state house of delegates, wants Gov. Bob McDonnell to kill the measure, which Marshall calls a “radical antifamily proposal.” He claims it would allow unmarried couples, gay and straight, to adopt or foster children, something Equality Virginia disputes.
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Marshall has said he is also concerned that faith-based agencies would have to place children with gay parents, in violation of their religious beliefs. In his letter to Sood, [[Equality Virginia's] Parrish contended that in placing children for adoption or foster care, these groups are acting as agents of the state, not engaging in private acts, as would be the case in employment decisions — and therefore they should be subject to anti-discrimination law.
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It gets so tiresome living in Virginia where in all candidness, farm animals are given more consideration and legal protections than LGBT Virginians. Once again for those considering moving to Virginia, my advice is don't. And if you're already here, leave if at all possible.

O, Canada! More Americans Heading North - The Number of Americans Moving to Canada in 2006 Hit a 30-Year High

Based on my last visit to Canada - British Columbia to be specific - I can well understand the attraction of leaving the USA as is talked about in this ABC News article (http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3433005&page=1). To me the most telling comment in the whole article is this:

"Things are totally different here because they care about their people here," she says, explaining that she's only been back home once or twice.

Particularly under the current political regime, the leadership of the USA cares little or nothing about individual citizens. If they did, there would be universal health insurance and the tax system would not be geared principally for the affluent. Other highlights of the article are:

Blame Canada! It may seem like a quiet country where not much happens besides ice hockey, curling and beer drinking. But our neighbor to the north is proving to be quite the draw for thousands of disgruntled Americans.

The number of U.S. citizens who moved to Canada last year hit a 30-year high, with a 20 percent increase over the previous year and almost double the number who moved in 2000. In 2006, 10,942 Americans went to Canada, compared with 9,262 in 2005 and 5,828 in 2000, according to a survey by the Association for Canadian Studies.