Oklahoma lawmakers pass sweeping adoption ban

The Oklahoma senate approved an measure Tuesday that says the state will not recognize adoptions by gay and lesbian parents from other states or countries. James Williamson, Republican leader of the senate, said "a key component of the radical homosexual agenda is to take away the right of states to regulate and define adoptions, just as they are trying to redefine marriage across the nation." Williamson's proposal was attached to a bill dealing with how foreign adoptions are registered in the state. Only five senators voted against the measure. Republican legislators have criticized a recent legal opinion by Atty. Gen. Drew Edmondson, in which he said that the state's adoption code requires state courts to recognize adoptions from other states, regardless of whether they involve same-sex couples. The state health department sought the opinion, saying it needed direction on how to handle the issuance of birth certificates requested by same-sex couples who adopted children from Oklahoma. Edmondson issued another opinion at the time stating that Oklahoma law bans same-sex marriages and does not recognize gay and lesbian unions performed in other states.