CONTACTStaffCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2024 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
A Virginia senate committee rejected legislation on Wednesday that would have required social workers in adoption cases to determine whether the applicants are gay. On an overwhelming voice vote, the courts of justice committee refused to send Del. Richard Black's bill to the senate floor. The house of delegates had passed the bill 71-24 last week. "This thing comes awfully close to being pretty bigoted, so I can't support it," said Sen. Richard Saslaw, a Fairfax Democrat. Black's bill originally would have prohibited gays from adopting in Virginia. However, the bill was amended in the house to require home studies prepared for the circuit court to include whether the applicant "is known to engage in current voluntary homosexual activity or is unmarried and cohabiting with another adult to whom he is not related by blood or marriage." Black, a Republican delegate from Loudoun, said he was concerned only about the best interests of the children. Virginia tradition has long recognized the benefits of a home with both a mother and a father, he said. Republican senator Kenneth W. Stolle of Virginia Beach, chairman of the committee, said the adoption law already protects the child's best interests by requiring thorough background checks that include, among other things, the applicant's moral suitability. Opponents of the legislation attacked the credibility of Black's chief witness: Paul Cameron, chairman of the Family Research Institute in Colorado Springs, Colo., who claimed that gays, drug users, and prostitutes "disrupt society" and have a much lower than normal life expectancy. Responding to questions from Democratic senator Janet Howell of Fairfax, Cameron acknowledged that the American Psychological Association expelled him in 1983 for violating the association's ethical principles. He also conceded that the American Sociological Association adopted resolutions in 1985 and 1986 claiming that Cameron had consistently misrepresented sociological research. Cameron said those rebukes stemmed from "political differences." He said the ASA and other organizations have begun a covert "affirmative action" program favoring gay couples in adoptions to make up for what they believe to be past discrimination. Robert H. Knight, director of the Culture and Family Institute in Washington, D.C., urged the panel to endorse Black's bill. "Who among us could say that our father could be replaced by a lesbian, and this would not have made any difference in our lives? Or that our mother could just as easily have been a male homosexual?" Knight said. Claire Guthrie Gastanaga, a lawyer for the gay rights group Equality Virginia, said the legislation was too vague. "We don't know what 'voluntarily engaging in homosexual activity' means," she said. "Does going to a gay bar qualify?" Social worker Jennifer Surrat said the bill "is unnecessary and discriminatory." Investigators already thoroughly examine applicants' relationships with family, friends, and the community, she said.
Want more breaking equality news & trending entertainment stories?
Check out our NEW 24/7 streaming service: the Advocate Channel!
Download the Advocate Channel App for your mobile phone and your favorite streaming device!
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
Here Are Our 2024 Election Predictions. Will They Come True?
November 07 2023 1:46 PM
17 Celebs Who Are Out & Proud of Their Trans & Nonbinary Kids
November 30 2023 10:41 AM
Here Are the 15 Most LGBTQ-Friendly Cities in the U.S.
November 01 2023 5:09 PM
Which State Is the Queerest? These Are the States With the Most LGBTQ+ People
December 11 2023 10:00 AM
These 27 Senate Hearing Room Gay Sex Jokes Are Truly Exquisite
December 17 2023 3:33 PM
10 Cheeky and Homoerotic Photos From Bob Mizer's Nude Films
November 18 2023 10:05 PM
30 Steamy Photos of Folsom Street Fair 2023 Debauchery
October 15 2023 11:06 PM
42 Flaming Hot Photos From 2024's Australian Firefighters Calendar
November 10 2023 6:08 PM
These Are the 5 States With the Smallest Percentage of LGBTQ+ People
December 13 2023 9:15 AM
60 Burly Pics from Bearrison Street Fair 2022
October 08 2023 8:30 PM
Watch Now: Advocate Channel
Trending Stories & News
For more news and videos on advocatechannel.com, click here.
Trending Stories & News
For more news and videos on advocatechannel.com, click here.
Latest Stories
Prince William's aversion to spectacle created one — and might spawn a King Harry
March 22 2024 6:24 PM
Outrage after Oklahoma prosecutor declines charges in Nex Benedict bullying death
March 22 2024 5:21 PM
George Santos leaves Republican Party, will run for House seat as independent
March 22 2024 4:07 PM
Catherine, Princess of Wales, announces she has cancer
March 22 2024 2:57 PM
Pride
Yahoo FeedProhibition Wellness & revolutionizing self-care for all
March 22 2024 1:19 PM
Tennessee bill would permit anti-LGBTQ+ foster and adoptee parents
March 22 2024 11:54 AM
Plus
Yahoo Feed8 dating tips for gay men from a gay psychotherapist
March 22 2024 11:51 AM
Trans woman assailed during Kanye West's Rolling Loud set beats back 'bullies' (exclusive)
March 22 2024 11:34 AM