From James Richardson’s new blog, the Skepticians (via HotAir):
Is the fight to preserve the traditional American family … one to, as its proponents argue, protect children, or is it means by which to silence the “radical gay agenda” in the United States through institutionalized shame? Cindy Lederman, a Miami-Dade circuit judge, is convinced it’s the latter.
Lederman’s landmark ruling, a move likely to elicit Prop 8-like responses, noted the inherent hypocrisy in Florida state law allowing gay men and women to be foster parents, but not legally adopt…
The case in question centers around Frank Martin Gill, 47, who requested and was subsequently denied the opportunity to adopt his two foster children, 4 and 8, of the last four years. Prior to living with Gill, the two young boys were, as reported by Miami’s CBS 4, taken by the Department of Children and Family Services from their “crack-smoking, abusive birth parents.” Thank God for traditional, child-friendly families with one mother and one father… But, in the state of Florida, Gill and these “crack-smoking, abusive birth parents” are both equally unqualified to rear children.
Joining Florida’s dubious ranks are Utah—a state settled largely for the Mormon Church’s non-conventional marriage practices (discontinued in 1890)—who bans unmarried straight or gay couples from adopting or fostering children, and Mississippi—a state with a less than sterling record in upholding the rights of minorities—who has legislation to ban gay couples, but not single gays, from adopting. What is it about gaycouples like Frank Gill and his partner that are so toxic to children? Florida’s current listing of “adoptable” children includes 453 Boys, 274 Girls and 39 Sibling Groups – none of which can be adopted by gay men and women. Having the government (i.e. Katrina bunglers) raise the next generation of Americans seems much more preferential than a loving, stable home with, God forbid, two same-sex parents…
First off, let me say how much I hope that Richardson is wrong about the effect that Lederman’s ruling will have. Another Prop 8 style aftermath would only serve to polarize the pro-gay rights and pro-traditional family people even further.
But more to the point, we need to look at these ridiculous double standards. How is it reasonable to allow a gay couple to foster the same child that they are not legally eligible to adopt? How is it reasonable to deny adoption to a homosexual based on his or her sexual preference, yet allow heterosexual couples to keep and abuse their children in a broken system? How is it reasonable to deny adoption to unmarried people, yet allow married people with children to divorce?
Republicans seem to want to be the Party of Family Values. We look for the moral high ground on most issues. In fairness, it usually is ours because moral relativism isn’t our game – it’s the liberal’s. But on this issue we are not standing on that high ground. These adoptable children, stuck in foster care, often neglected by a system that is supposed to be on their side, need people to love and care for them. Are Republcans saying that the Florida foster care system is better than placement in a homosexual parent’s care? That is a remarkable statement indeed.
If we claim that we are looking out for the children, yet we oppose gay adoption out of hand, we reveal ourselves to be liars and bigots.
1 Comment
December 1, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Well said, Jane Q.