While a number of diaries have shown up through the last few weeks urging support to defeat California Proposition #8 and mourning its passage yesterday (the referenced diary talks about challenges to its passage), the implications of a lesser-known homophobia-by-initiative, at least to me, in Arkansas, are dawning on me this morning.
Arkansas Proposed ballot initiative #1 intends to block the establishment of same-sex families by forbidding the adoption of children by same sex couples. How does one define a same-sex couple? Pretty hard to say, so the framers took a definition which is downright Orwellian: with the passage of this piece of unadulterated hatred, it is now illegal to adopt in Arkansas if you are an unmarried couple.
Let me not for a moment give short notice to the completely horrific nature of trying to forbid truly same sex couples from adopting. As an adoptive father and vigorous member of the adoptive community, this would cut out a number of loving, utterly successful families of same sex partners and adoptive children who I know. Ironically, many of the evangelical adoptive parents I know of in this community, who ordinarily completely fall on the side of denial of gay rights, openly embrace these couples as a part of their circle of adoptive friends (trust me, going forward, I intend to challenge them on this hypocrisy).
However, the reach of this bill is far, far, more draconian and utterly anti-family than this.
Section 1: Adoption and foster care of minors.
(a) A minor may not be adopted or placed in a foster home if the individual seeking to adopt or to serve as a foster parent is cohabiting with a sexual partner outside of a marriage which is valid under the constitution and laws of this state.
(b) The prohibition of this section applies equally to cohabiting opposite-sex and same-sex individuals.
I'd informally estimate that some 40%--at least--of the adoptive families I know of are of single mothers with adoptive children. Many of these mothers are themselves fairly conservative folks, who have made a life decision to create a family in this fashion where they have for whatever reason not incorporated a life partner at this point in their lives (certainly not through matrimony--or in some cases they have themselves faced divorce or being widowed).
So, Arkansas, what of it--in your rampant homophobia and destroying families of gay head of household, are you happy with destroying these viable, loving families of heterosexual single heads of household as well?
Moreover, the notion of "unmarried couple" covers fully 50% of the coupled population of the (ahem) "Natural State" (how ironic--I had to look that up myself).
I have no idea whether the rampant homophobes who drafted this piece of anti-family crap thought of retroactive application. I'd assume that there's some form of basic common law that would grandfather existing adoptive families in without having them be deemed as living in sin and...force the children into state care?
Oh, one more thing to chew on--Arkansas has (lost the link now) one of the highest backlogs of children per capita under state care in need of foster care in the nation. I guess if they run out of married registered foster famiiles, they can ship them across state borders?
If not, what is the incalculable psychological damage to be inflicted on the children of those families, gay or unmarried-straight, who were living fully in the light 24 hours ago and not today? If you're an adoptive family of any kind, why the hell would you want to even live in Arkansas, easily the most anti-family state in the union as of today?
With all due respect to our fine Kossacks of "The Natural State", to this proud adoptive father of a little girl (where I usually don't even think about the "adoptive" part)--in a happy married straight family btw--Arkansas just took the unqualified holding of the title of a**hole of America as of today. I'd never dream of living in such an oppressive, anti-family environment--I don't think I'd even feel comfortable using of the state's airports as a connecting airline hub.