Most States Drop Adoption Bans
February 24, 2006: In a huge victory for families, it looks like only one state will have a ban against LGBT adoptions on the ballot this year. Previous reports expected anti-gay bills in 16 states. This is great news.
Maybe the conservative agitators saw the results of the recent USA Today poll (see post below) which showed that 72% of the respondents favored allowing LGBT people to adopt.
Here’s the story from Southern Voice:
Despite fears from gay rights activists that bills to ban gay adoption would be a hot topic in state legislatures this year, only one such ban has actually been introduced — and it appears unlikely to win approval.
Ohio gay families are the first to face what some gay groups claim may be a potential onslaught of state bills to ban gay people from adopting or becoming foster parents, as social conservatives attempt to ride on the coattails of successful anti-gay marriage bans.
Ohio House Bill 515 was introduced Feb. 9 and states a person may not adopt “if the individual is a homosexual, bisexual or transgender individual; the individual is a step-parent of the child to be adopted and is a homosexual, bisexual or transgender individual; the individual resides with an individual who the court determines is a homosexual, bisexual or transgender individual.”
Other states that gay rights activists speculate might introduce similar bills include Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas.
With many state legislative sessions under way, some activists are surprised no other gay adoption bans have been introduced.
“It is interesting only one state has filed a bill to ban gay adoption and, frankly, that’s not where we expected to be,” said Jennifer Chrisler, director of the Family Pride Coalition, a national organization that works for gay families.
Chrisler said her group is organizing with local and national groups, including the Human Rights Campaign and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, to defeat bans on gay adoptions.
“Some people know they can very easy use this as a political wedge issue. Texas will have another foster ban in 2007. But polling shows people believe it should be up to social scientists and professionals to determine what is best for the child — perhaps this is why the issue has lost its steam,” Chrisler added.