News
2006-06-16
ACLU fights for
gay foster parents in Arkansas
The fight to
allow gay foster parents in Arkansas rages on, with
ACLU lawyers on Thursday pushing the
state's
The fight to
allow gay foster parents in Arkansas rages on, with
ACLU lawyers on Thursday pushing the
state's supreme court to uphold an earlier
decision that struck down the existing statewide
ban on LGBT foster parents.
The lawsuit,
Howard v. Child Welfare Agency Review
Board, was originally brought against the state in
1999, and in 2004 a Pulaski County circuit judge ruled
that the ban hurt children and that children raised by
gay and lesbian foster parents are as
well-adjusted as children raised by straight foster parents.
The case is now on appeal.
Arkansas's Child
Welfare Agency Review Board established a policy in 1999
that "no person may serve as a foster parent if any adult
member of that person's household is a homosexual."
The ACLU and
other groups, including Arkansas Advocates for Children and
Families, the Child Welfare League of America, and the
American Psychological Association, have argued that
the ban eliminates a pool of capable foster parents
from providing a much-needed home for foster
children.
"Children who
need foster homes deserve better than to be deprived of
good homes just so the state can make a misguided political
statement against gay people," said Rita Sklar,
executive director of the ACLU of Arkansas. (The
Advocate)
Click here to follow The Advocate on Twitter.
Page 1 of 1