News
2006-02-11
Proposal would
ban adoption by gays in Ohio
A bill introduced
by a Republican state representative would bar gays
from being foster or adoptive parents.
An effort to
strip gays and lesbians in Ohio of adoption rights was
launched Thursday by a Republican state representative. Ron
Hood of Asheville introduced Bill 515, which would
prohibit foster and adoptive children from being
placed in the home of any gay, bisexual, or
transgender person in the state.
Gay rights groups
including the American Civil Liberties Union expressed
outrage at the bill, which would affect the approximately
6,000 children in Ohio waiting to be adopted.
“This bill is blatant discrimination in its
worst form. It will only cause families to be ripped apart,
children to be denied a loving home, and the social
services systems in Ohio to be flooded with children
who would have been otherwise placed in healthy
environments,” said ACLU of Ohio executive director
Christine Link.
There is no
justifiable reason to deny needy children loving homes, Link
said. “Experts on adoption such as social workers,
pediatricians, and psychologists from around the
nation have agreed that there is no child welfare
basis for banning gay adoption when it is in the best
interest of the child,” Link said.
“Politicians legislating these types of social
welfare cases will only result in harming innocent children
around the state.” (Advocate.com)
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