Speech on Gay Adoption.

[MissCatholic]

First thing i would like to say is that i do plan to run for the Atlasia Senate. I plan to push through legislation that will allow gays to adopt. I will begin with a comment from President Bush made 21st November 1999.

"I am against gay marriage because I believe that marriage is for men and women. I don't support gay adoption either because I believe that society ought to aim for the ideal, and the ideal is for a man and a woman to adopt children."

The people who suffer the most because of the homophobic religious ban on gay adoptive parents are the many children who need and deserve good loving homes.  Multitudes of needy children are still without parents because of misguided public opinion and unconstitutional unrealistic "faith based" ignorant bans against gay adoptions like the ones in Florida, Mississippi, and Utah.

Misinformed abusive religion is the underlying cause for the suffering of these often hard to place orphans and abandoned children. SHAME on the religious people who are fighting for a share of the public money for "Faith Based Services" when their own ignorance and prejudice cancel them out as truly objective realistic providers of help to needy children or to anybody else!

"Welcome the children and do not hinder them from coming to me; For God includes them also."  --Jesus in Matthew 19:14

There is a crisis in Foster Care and Adoption

Right now there is a critical shortage of adoptive and foster parents in the United States. As a result, many children have no permanent homes, while others are forced to survive in an endless series of substandard foster homes. It is estimated that there are 500,000 children in foster care nationally, and 100,000 need to be adopted.

There is much evidence documenting the serious damage suffered by children without permanent homes who are placed in substandard foster homes. Children frequently become victims of the "foster care shuffle," in which they are moved from temporary home to temporary home. A child stuck in permanent foster care can live in 20 or more homes by the time she reaches 18. It is not surprising, therefore, that long-term foster care is associated with increased emotional problems, delinquency, substance abuse and academic problems.

In order to reach out and find more and better parents for children without homes, adoption and foster care policies have become increasingly inclusive over the past two decades. While adoption and foster care were once viewed as services offered to infertile, middle-class, largely white couples seeking healthy same-race infants, these policies have modernized. In the past two decades, child welfare agencies have changed their policies to make adoption and foster care possible for a much broader range of adults, including minority families, older individuals, families who already have children, single parents (male and female), individuals with physical disabilities, and families across a broad economic range. These changes have often been controversial at the outset. According to the CWLA, "at one time or another, the inclusion of each of these groups has caused controversy. Many well-intended individuals vigorously opposed including each new group as potential adopters and voiced concern that standards were being lowered in a way that could forever damage the field of adoption."

Its just not fair...but no discrimination ever is!

[Sam Spade]

Interestingly enough, though the Senate has spent great time debating marriage rules, they have spent absolutely no time debating adoption rules, which is clearly under their powers. 

I wouldn't be surprised if those come up sometime soon.

[MissCatholic]

Will you vote for gay adoption. have i given you a good case to get your support?

[Sam Spade]

Will you vote for gay adoption. have i given you a good case to get your support?

Knowing my views on these matters, the answer is pretty much no.

However, I will be willing to listening to your opinion on this stuff, just as I would listen to anyone.

In all honesty, I was just making a point as to how this issue has strangely been ignored (probably because most people on this board have not thought about adopting children)

[Colin]

Is there actually a federal ban on gay adoption? I personally thought there were just state bans on adoption, IIRC.

Also, Miss Catholic, you must remember that we are not in America, we are in Atlasia, and we are all Atlasians. Though the names look somewhat similar we are very different from each other. Atlasia, I have always thought, reminds me more of a European country, except for better economic policies and laws, than the United States. The Republic has legalized gay marriage, although it is being faught I would direct you to the current Spanish debate over gay marriage for a closer example of what is happening in Atlasia though than the American example, most of the country has legal adoption, though there are some regulations in the South and the Mideast IIRC, and we have, for the most part, Atlasia has given most debate over social issues to the regions leaving the federal government with the more important and pressing issues like the budget, foreign relations, and taxes.

Basically Miss Catholic, Atlasia is socially left of the United States while economically it is only slightly further to the left than the US.

[Alcon]

Considering that we have gay marriage, wouldn't gay adoption be sort of automatic?

[YRABNNRM]

Considering that we have gay adoption, wouldn't gay marriage be sort of automatic?

Right...

[Alcon]

Considering that we have gay adoption, wouldn't gay marriage be sort of automatic?

Right...

Oh, shut up.

[Sam Spade]

Considering that we have gay marriage, wouldn't gay adoption be sort of automatic?

I'm curious what Peter Bell would say on the matter.

But my gut instinct tells me that until the federal government does something with regards to setting up rules on adoption in all forms, etc., the de facto state laws that were in place pre-Atlasia formation will be the ones in effect.

Gay marriage actually is not really connected to gay adoption, at least legally.

[YRABNNRM]

Considering that we have gay adoption, wouldn't gay marriage be sort of automatic?

Right...

Oh, shut up.