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Adoptions by Gay Couples History of Heterosexism Now Added to Other Rights Abuses Half-Million U.S. Children Languish in Foster Care Programs |
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Compiled By GayToday
Jackson, Mississippi--Mississippi Governor Ronnie Musgrove (D) signed a bill into law
that has made Mississippi the third state--along with Florida and Utah--to
ban gay couples from adopting.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has characterized this new law as "discriminatory" and "unconstitutional", as well as "a direct assault on family values and takes adoption decisions out of the hands of trained professionals and places them in the hands of politicians." "The process of trained professionals basing adoption decisions on the best interests of children was usurped by politicians who are only interested in the best interests of their reelection campaigns," said HRC National Field Director Seth Kilbourn.
An August, 1997 poll conducted by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates shows that more than half of voters (55 percent) would oppose a law that would prevent gay men and lesbian from adopting children. The poll also shows that 75 percent of Americans agree that lesbians and gay men can be just as good parents as heterosexuals. The American Psychological Association reports that studies comparing groups of children raised by gay and non-gay parents find no developmental differences between the two groups of children in their intelligence, social and psychological adjustment, popularity with friends, development of sex role identity or development of sexual orientation. |
