Bavaria to challenge right of same-sex couples to adopt each other's children

The conservative German state of Bavaria voted Tuesday to challenge a law granting same-sex couples the right to adopt each other's children on the grounds that it violates children's right to traditional mother-father role models. "The deciding factor in an adoption cannot be the wish of same-sex couples to have children but must be what is in the best interest of the children," Bavarian governor Edmund Stoiber said. Bavaria will challenge the law in constitutional court. Last October, German lawmakers expanded the rights of same-sex couples, allowing registered domestic partners to adopt each other's children while stopping short of granting them complete rights to adopt other children. The law was passed despite objections by the opposition Christian Democrats and their sister party, Stoiber's Bavaria-only Christian Social Union. (AP)