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for Jordan St. Francis: Gay adoption is good for children.

Luminous

non-existential luminary
On Autodidact's signature: he who believes what is wrong,... is wrong. he who is open to all possibilities is open to the truth.
 

Autodidact

Intentionally Blank
The kind of laws we are talking about are the recently passed Act 1 in Arkansas, that prohibits the state from placing children for foster care with "unmarried" couples. So when
there are at any one time in Arkansas 3,700 kids needing foster care; there are only 1,000 eligible foster parents.
, the state chooses to reduce the number of families available, in order to punish gay parents.

Now it's lousy when people discriminate against gay people, but at least we're adults and can take it. When they inflict their prejudice on poor children, it's just plain evil. I challenge the proponents of this hateful law to click here [warning, do not click this link if you are soft-hearted, unless you are married and have a spare bedroom.] and tell these waiting kids that they have to live in an orphanage, because the people of Arkansas are bigots.

btw, I love how they prohibit you from getting married, then punish you for not being married. That's a delightfully sadistic touch, don't you think?
 

Jordan St. Francis

Well-Known Member
Autodictat,

To be fair, I never suggested we refrain from placing children in the homes of same-sex couple foster parents or allowing these couples to adopt. I have only advocated a kind of two gendered priority.

I, with you, agree that these children would be far better off with loving parents of any gender than left in an institution.

BTW, I have not forgotten about this topic but, in my spare time, am trying to work out a response (regarding gender in general) for the other thread I started about this same topic.
 

Rolling_Stone

Well-Known Member
In a thread on gay marriage, Jordan St. Francis and I found ourselves debating the question of whether adoption by gay and lesbian parents is good or bad for children. This thread is to pursue that discussion, or a related one, whether gay parenting is a good or bad thing.
Why? I thought you were a great believer in Occam's razor: don't multiply entities more than necessary. Why should society burden itself with the self-indulgent, i.e., homosexuals who want to raise children?

You never were much for consistency of thought.
 

texan1

Active Member
Why? I thought you were a great believer in Occam's razor: don't multiply entities more than necessary. Why should society burden itself with the self-indulgent, i.e., homosexuals who want to raise children?

You never were much for consistency of thought.

In what way are homosexuals who want to raise children self-indulgent? And how do you believe that would factor in to their parenting skills?
 

Autodidact

Intentionally Blank
Why? I thought you were a great believer in Occam's razor: don't multiply entities more than necessary. Why should society burden itself with the self-indulgent, i.e., homosexuals who want to raise children?

You never were much for consistency of thought.

Again, and follow me closely here, Rolling, because it's a bit difficult for you to grasp:

The question is, is adoption by gay people good or bad FOR CHILDREN. That is the question we are discussing. The answer is, it is good FOR CHILDREN. When gay people adopt children, does it help, or harm them? Or, to cast it in your bizarre terms, should self-indulgent heterosexuals who give birth to children they cannot raise be relieved of their burden by caring homosexuals who are willing and able to take on the job of raising them for them?

And I'll skip the gratuitous insult, because I am not interested in stooping to your level.

When heterosexuals, whether or not they are able to have children, adopt children, are they self-indulgent too?
 
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Autodidact

Intentionally Blank
What do child welfare organizations have to say about this subject? These are not gay or pro-gay organizations, but groups charged with protecting and caring for children.

Child Welfare League of America:
CWLA's Standards of Excellence for Adoption Services state, "Applicants should be assessed on the basis of their abilities to successfully parent a child needing family membership and not on their race, ethnicity or culture, income, age, marital status, religion, appearance, differing lifestyles, or sexual orientation." Further, applicants for adoption should be accepted "on the basis of an individual assessment of their capacity to understand and meet the needs of a particular available child at the point of adoption and in the future."

the children of homosexual parents show no difference in levels of self-esteem, anxiety, depression, behavior problems, or social performance, but do show a higher level of affection, responsiveness, and concern for younger children and "seem to exhibit impressive psychological strength."

Gay parents were found to be more likely to equally share child care and household duties, and the children of gay partners reported closer relationships to the parent who was not their primary caregiver than did the children of heterosexual couples. "These findings imply that lesbian coparents may enjoy greater parental compatibility and achieve particularly high quality parenting skills, which may help explain the striking findings on parent-child relationships."

Children deserve to know that their relationships with both of their parents are stable and legally recognized. This applies to all children, whether their parents are of the same or opposite sex. The
American Academy of Pediatrics recognizes that a considerable body of professional literature provides evidence that children with parents who are homosexual can have the same advantages and the same expectations for health, adjustment, and development as can children whose parents are heterosexual.1–9 When 2 adults participate in parenting a child, they and the child deserve the serenity that comes with legal recognition.

APA:
research has shown that the adjustment, development, and psychological well-being of children is unrelated to parental sexual orientation and that the children of lesbian and gay parents are as likely as those of heterosexual parents to flourish (Patterson, 2004; Perrin, 2002; Stacey & Biblarz, 2001);...the APA opposes any discrimination based on sexual orientation in matters of adoption, child custody and visitation, foster care, and reproductive health services;

Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute:
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.
 

9-10ths_Penguin

1/10 Subway Stalinist
Premium Member
Why? I thought you were a great believer in Occam's razor: don't multiply entities more than necessary. Why should society burden itself with the self-indulgent, i.e., homosexuals who want to raise children?
Adopting children in need of parents unburdens society, and the people who do so are hardly self-indulgent.
 

Autodidact

Intentionally Blank
And lest you think this is theoretical,

The probability of being adopted from foster care was low across all state policy categories. According to the model, the chance of adoption for a foster child living in a “gay-friendly” state is almost twice that of a foster child living in an “anti-gay” state.
Summary and Implications
State anti-gay policies are associated with fewer adoptions and a significantly reduced likelihood of children being adopted from foster care. This suggests that state anti-gay adoption policies may work against the Federal priority of adoption from foster care by precluding a population of effective and willing parents from adopting. Potential consequences for moving foster children into permanent homes should be included in debates about gay and lesbian adoption laws and policies.

This research brief was created by doctoral students
Sarah Kaye, MA, and Katherine A. Kuvalanka, MS
April 2006
Reviewed by: Sandra Hofferth, PhD, Bonnie Braun, PhD, and Elaine Anderson, PhD
University of Maryland
Department of Family Studies
 

Autodidact

Intentionally Blank
Now I'm going to talk a little bit about my personal experience, which is extensive. Like many lesbians and gay men I know, I have taken on part of the burden that irresponsible heterosexuals have inflicted on society by having a child they can't take care of. Not only did could her heterosexual birth parents not take care of her, but her heterosexual foster parents decided not to adopt her after all. The County was absolutely thrilled to meet us and trust us with this child, and I can tell you it has not been easy.

This is NOT unusual. My friend T is about to take custody of her great-nephew, because her irresponsible heterosexual niece has more children than she can take care of. Two of my closest friends took custody of teenage girls after their mothers died, and no dad stepped up to the plate to care for them.

Then there's T.W., who I met through my parents group. He's a Buddhist hospice chaplain. He's taking care of two very challenging boys, both completely let down by their heterosexual parents, both placed with him by the county. Or D, now aged 60, who has done wonders with her nearly adult adopted daughter, and now has taken a little boy, age 5, neglected by his birth parents.

This is the real face of gay adoption. Do any of you on the anti-gay side actually know any gay adoptive families?
 
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