Proud and Ashamed to be an American Today

I am feeling both proud and ashamed to be an American today. I am proud that the American people have stepped up to the plate and chose change over fear by voting for Barak Obama. However, I am beyond disappointed that while the American people are finally willing to elect an African-American president, they still choose to discriminate against LGBT Americans all over the country.

Voters in both Arizona and Florida passed amendments that will deny LGBT Americans the right to marry, and in some cases, the right to civil unions or domestic partnerships. And in Arkansas, voters passed an amendment that would eliminate the right for anyone who is not "legally" married (specifically the LGBT community) to adopt or foster children. And of course we can't forget Proposition 8 in California, which at the time I am writing this post is still too close to call, but appears likely to pass, but by a small margin.

However, even with these defeats, HRC President, Joe Solmonese, is far from ready to give up this fight. “We all know that our marriages did not begin with a court decision and they will not end with a vote on a discriminatory amendment.”

“In California, we firmly believe that all votes should be counted before calling the race. Several million votes in CA have yet to be counted. We are waiting to see the final results from those ballots and we should not be speculating about something as important as people’s fundamental rights,” continued Solmonese.

“Although we lost our battles in Arizona and Florida, we will not allow the lies and hate—the foundation on which our opponents built their campaign—to break our spirits. We are on the right side of history—and we will continue this journey."

“The continuing movement in public opinion underscores that it is only a matter of time before we undo this loss and add more states to the march for marriage equality,” Solmonese continued.

We can only hope that President Elect Barak Obama, who did happen to mention the gay community in his acceptance speech, will help to lead the American people towards a more compassionate and less discriminatory view of the LGBT community.

New Study Supports Gay/Lesbian Adoption

The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute released a major new report today that offers recommendations to increase the pool of prospective adoptive parents for children in foster care by changing state laws and agency practices so they become more welcoming of gay and lesbian applicants.

“There has long been a consensus in our country, at its best manifested in legislation and practice, that we need to do all we can for vulnerable children,” said Adam Pertman, Executive Director of the Adoption Institute. “But today - even though tens of thousands of children need homes and the research clearly shows that gays and lesbians make fine parents - there are efforts in states like Arkansas to impose restrictions on qualified applicants simply because of their sexual orientation.

“Every minute we retain the status quo, rather than expanding the pool of qualified prospective parents, undermines the prospects of boys and girls who need permanent, loving families,” Pertman added. “It’s way past time for the needs of these `waiting’ children to finally make it onto the national stage.”

The Adoption Institute’s 50-page report, “Expanding Resources for Waiting Children II: Eliminating Legal and Practice Barriers to Gay and Lesbian Adoption from Foster Care,” provides specific, research-based findings and recommendations relating to state laws and adoption agency policies.

The recommendations include:

• State policies should explicitly recognize foster parenting by gays and lesbians, and laws that inhibit or prohibit adoption by non-heterosexual individuals and couples (such as in Florida and Utah) should be rescinded; applicants should be judged on their qualifications, not their sexual orientation.
  
• State laws should serve children’s best interests by permitting joint and second-parent adoptions, and all states should give “full faith and credit” to adoptions legally completed in other states, without regard to the marital status or sexual orientation of the adoptive parents.
  
• Agencies should assess their policies and practices to ensure that they are welcoming - in recruitment, training and post-placement services - for all qualified family resources who want to provide homes for children in foster care, including gay/lesbian individuals and couples.

This report builds on the Institute’s 2006 Policy & Practice Perspective, Expanding Resources for Waiting Children: Is Adoption by Gays and Lesbians Part of the Answer?

Among the findings in the new report are:

• Research shows gays/lesbians are effective parents and are an important resource for waiting children. Major medical and child-advocacy groups overwhelmingly support these adoptions.
  
• Excluding gays and lesbians from fostering carries significant economic consequences. A conservative estimate of a national ban puts the total costs to states at $87 million to $130 million.

For more information about this report, or to schedule an interview, please contact Adam Pertman at 617-332-8944 or apertman@adoptioninstitute.org

The Institute is an independent, nonpartisan nonprofit organization. Its mission is to improve the lives of millions of people by working for better laws, policies and practices. To learn more about our work, please visit our award-winning website, www.adoptioninstitute.org.