Arkansas will be voting on a referendum to ban unmarried couples from becoming foster or adoptive parents. This will be one of the issues they vote on along with the presidential election in November.

In order for the issue to make it to the ballet proponents had to gather at least 61,974 signatures. They submitted more than 85,000. In 2006 the Arkansas Supreme Court overturned a decision that specifically banned gay or lesbian couples from becoming foster parents. It seems the bickering is continuing and now it will be up to the voters to decide.

I know that gay and lesbian rights are a hot button topic for so many people. My own personal opinion is that a child needs a parent or parents and permanency. Should we let a child bounce through the foster care system for years and years rather than giving that child a chance at a parent or parents who will provide love and stability?

I have friends who are single parents and are great parents. Should we have denied them the ability to be parents or have denied the children the ability to have a parent who loves them? They don’t fit the mold of what the “ideal” parent is so they cannot parent a child?

Presidential candidate John McCain is opposed to gay and lesbian couples being allowed to adopt. He had the following to say on the issue:

“I think that we’ve proven that both parents are important in the success of a family so, no, I don’t believe in gay adoption.”

With divorce rates averaging 50%, how many “normal” children live in an intact family?

With approximately 14,000 children in living foster homes with gay or lesbian foster parents, where will these children go if these state or even national bans go into effect? Virtually every state is already short on foster homes and now we’re going to try to find homes for another 14,000 children? How exactly is that going to happen?

The wording of the bill in Arkansas does not specifically state gay or lesbian families, but instead it would prohibit unmarried couples living together. This would also ban heterosexual couples from becoming foster or adoptive parents. If a couple wanted to start the foster or adoption process before they married, they would not be allowed to. There are couples who live together all their lives but never marry. They would not be allowed to become foster or adoptive parents either. My friend Elaine married her husband on the same day they adopted a sibling group. They would not have been considered for foster care or adoption under this new law.

It seems that we are trying to inflict moral standards onto foster and adoptive parents that we can’t inflict on biological parents. Gay and lesbian couples can become parents by using a surrogate or sperm donor but they can’t take in a child who has been abused or neglected.

Let’s give kids a permanent and loving family. Isn’t that doing the right thing for them?



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