"No person under this statute may adopt if that person is a homosexual."
Legislation proposed by Delegate Richard Black (R-Loudon) would add the aforementioned language to the laws governing Virginia's adoption procedures. The bill (HB2921), currently in the Health, Welfare and Institutions Committee, is the latest salvo in conservatives' ongoing crusade to limit the rights of gay Virginians.
Currently, any person or married couple living in the state can apply to adopt a child. Each applicant's health, criminal record, and fitness to parent is carefully screened before that person or couple is allowed to adopt. But nonetheless, Mr. Black and his co-patron Robert Marshall (R-Manassas)
believe the bill is necessary because, according to Mr. Marshall, "The order of nature strongly suggests a father and mother are necessary for proper development of a child and that means a heterosexual relationship."
Dyana Mason, executive director of Equality Virginia, disagrees. "It's a disengenuous argument to make that two loving people can't commit to raising a healthy child. That's just wrong." Mason cites studies showing that "children being raised in homes with gay parents are turning out just fine."
Among those studies is a report from the American Psychological Association which rejects the intellectual basis of Black's legislation.
Gay and lesbian parents are as likely as heterosexual parents to provide healthy and supportive environments for their children. Lesbian and heterosexual women do not differ markedly either in their overall mental health or in their approaches to child rearing. Nor do lesbians' romantic and sexual relationships with other women detract from their ability to care for their children. Recent evidence suggests that gay and lesbian couples with children tend to divide child care and household responsibilities evenly and to report satisfaction with their relationship.
Those hoping to restrict the rights of gay couples to adopt also cite the perceived social pressures that prospective adoptees would face. The American Psychological Association says those fears are not supported by fact.
Studies of various aspects of child development reveal few differences among children of lesbian mothers and heterosexual parents in such areas as personality, self-concept, behavior, and sexual identity. (Only limited data are available on these dimensions for children of gay fathers.) Evidence also suggests that children of lesbian and gay parents have normal social relationships with peers and adults. Fears about children of lesbian or gay parents being sexually abused by adults, ostracized by peers, or isolated in single-sex lesbian or gay communities have received no scientific support.
If successful, the legislation would Virginia only the second state in the nation to specifically bar gay couples from adopting. Florida's ban on gay adoption dates to 1977 and was recently strengthened when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a case challenging its consitutionality.
There are more than 126,000 children awaiting adoption nationwide, according to the Child Welfare League.
Cross-posted at PolState and The Virginia Progressive.