Subscribe to Breaking News
Loading ...Gay couples protest bill to ban adoptions
02.26.2009 10:38am EST
(Frankfort, Kentucky) LGBT rights groups and child advocates are denouncing legislation that would bar gays and lesbians from adopting or fostering children in Kentucky.
The bill would reject any unmarried couple from adopting, but opponents say it is aimed squarely at gays.On Wednesday, close to 200 people demonstrated against the measure at the Capitol, calling the legislation “a hate bill.”
The LGBT civil rights group The Fairness Campaign organized the rally.
Among those who took part were Anthony Harland-Bennett, his partner and their 7-year old daughter. Harland-Bennett told The Associated Press that they adopted their little girl when they lived in Wisconsin, but now that they have moved to Goshen, Kentucky they may have to leave the state out of fear their daughter could be taken from them.
“Here in Kentucky, it is that hate that ought to be banned and not our family,” he told the AP. “You cannot legislate compassion. However, we can and must leave hatred and bigotry out of our laws.”
Children’s advocates also denounced the bill, saying it would deny hundreds of children in state care from living in loving homes. About 1,878 Kentucky children are eligible for adoption.
Protestors buttonholed lawmakers lobbying them to oppose the bill. But its sponsor, state Sen. Gary Tapp (R) defended the measure denying it is aimed at gays and saying it is meant to provide children with homes that have a mother and a father.
“The bill is necessary for the welfare of our children,” he told the Courrier-Journal. “It’s a proven fact that children are better off raised in a safe, loving environment.”
The conservative Family Foundation supports the bill.
“Gay rights activists have decided this is a political issue when it is really an issue about the welfare of children,” David Edmunds, a policy analyst for The Family Foundation told the AP. “I believe that most Kentuckians understand just through common sense that children who are wards of the state deserve the most stable environment that we can find.”
Tapp’s bill is modeled after similar ban that was approved by voters in Arkansas last November.
And they wonder why I’m leaving after graduating from the University of Kentucky.
Pathetic!!!
OH MY GOD! ARE THERE STILL LGBT PEOPLE IN KENTUCKY???!!!!
“Why, Christina, why?!”
Until all of those 1,878 children are adopted and there are no others left, KY should be happy that there are people, either single or LGBT, who are more than willing to take these kids in and provide them a loving and stable home. Just because there’s a mother and a father does NOT mean or guarantee that the home will be a loving and stable environment. I can understand that politicians and others want to avoid situations like the Octo-Mom (who’s single with 14 children and no money or a job, and soon no home), but if a person or couple can prove that they have the means and the resources to provide a stable home-life for a child then they should be able to do so.
Rosie needs to take a trip to KY and give me a punch in the face.
Once again they show their true agenda. The promotion of hate at the expense of innocent children. Not that much different than those who strap bombs to kids and send them off to kill. Use them as pawns in your selfish and ignorant attempt to promote your agenda of hate and intolerance.
“The bottom line is that within the research community there are no empirical studies demonstrating adverse effects, said [sociologist Judith]Stacey, who is now at New York University. ‘We know that a parent’s sexual orientation is not a significant factor. A good parent is a good parent, . . . and parents who get along and are consistent in their child-rearing . . . have better outcomes than those who don’t.’ ”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-gay-parents-18feb18,0,1806366.story
One wonders how many of the 1,878 children in Ken. foster system were pulled from hetero “safe, loving environments?”
Also, with reality shows that would marry perfect strangers its tough to support the sanctity of marriage. If we can go that far why not have a reality show where people are given kids and see what happens. Im sure just as the marriages will fail a good amount of the time. So will the reality show adoption families regardless of the heterosexual, homosexual, or single parent status. Its not what the parent(s) is/are… its who they are.
There is nothing said about the fitness of the magic heterosexual couple. How can one stereotype all heterosexual couples and say they are better than any other situation for the advancement of children. All heterosexual couples are different just as all homosexual couples and even single individuals that may raise a child. Give the child to a loving family based on the merits of the individual and or couple not some idealized antiquated traditional model. Finally, by denying people the right to adopt you limit the possibilities for adoption of state wards. Its amazing how ignorant, arrogant and hateful people can be.
GROW UP!
The line ““It’s a proven fact that children are better off raised in a safe, loving environment.” Is an out and out insult to anyone who is not married.
Tapp lies when he says “it is proven that children are better off with heterosexual parents”. All state records show that a single parent or same sex parents have a proven track record of parental success, and he knows it. Edmonds implies that single or same sex parents is no substitute for state foster institutions. Love, caring, nurturing, parenting are not exclusive to opposite sex parents, Tapp and Edmonds are mean spirited bigots who care not for parentles children.
Now, there was a lot of criticism for people upset at minority groups for overwhelmingly voting against us in the past election. And surely there are minority members of the state legislature. So, my questions are these:
Who is outreaching in the other minority communities in Kentucky?
What is the game-plan for convincing the other minority communities not to vote against us in Kentucky?
Who is educating the other minorities about our community?
These were said to be the reason why the minorities other than us voted against us. So, tell me who is rectifying that situation?
HRC?
LAMBDA?
So he(Gary Tapp) would rather the children live their lives WITHOUT a MOTHER OR FATHER??
bravooo for his perfect logic. If they can’t have what I want them to have then they’ll have nothing at all. Pathetic.A child is better off with ONE LOVING parent than a father&mother combo #1 slathered with all the domestic disputes and loveless childhood one could possibly dream of. (Sarcasm intended)
If this Hate Bill passes, then to be fair, if strait people get a divorce then social services should come take the children and place it in one of these imaginary perfect homes.
Tom in Long Beach
Sen. Tapp’s remarks are profoundly hypocritical. To deny that the bill is aimed at gays and then state that it is meant to give children “homes with a mother and a father” – a scenario that obviously excludes same-sex couples outright – is insulting to the intelligence of everyone in Kentucky. To then further state that “chuildren are better off raised in a safe loving environment” could not be motre insulting GLBT families than it is. The obvious implicatin is that GLBT familes are NOT a safe and loving environment. It is an appeal to str8 people who view homosexuals as a danger to chidren. Sen. Tapp is an ASS of the highest order. He panders to the ignorance of his constituency. The “Family” Foundation is just doing what all similiarly pathetic organizations do, they attempt to legislate their own morality with no genuine concern for the true well being of others. To imply that the bill’s logic is founded on “common sense” is just an appeal to the sentiments of str8 people who feel “naturally superior” to homosexuals. What an embarssament to the citizens of Kentucky.