A bill barring
gay and straight unmarried couples from adopting or
fostering children was advanced by an Arkansas state senate
panel Monday. Last year, according to the Associated
Press, the state supreme court overturned a ban on gay
foster parents that had been established by state
policy rather than by law.
Four people have
sued the state government after the policy was put into
effect in 1999 and then dropped in 2004.
The ban was put
in place by the Arkansas Child Welfare Board in March
1999 when it said children should be in a conventional
two-parent home because they are more likely to thrive
in that environment, the article said.
Gary Wheeler, a
Little Rock pediatrician, told lawmakers that there is no
evidence in proving the board's statement. "There's been a
lot of confusion about who's a homosexual and who's a
pedophile. These are two large groups that hardly
intersect," Wheeler said in the article.
Gov. Mike Beebe
said that he would support the policy if it were proven
to be constitutionally sound. The ban would not be enforced
against blood relatives who are cohabitation.
Theresa M.
Beiner, a University of Arkansas constitutional law
professor, said in the article that the law would be
struck down as unconstitutional and that the proposal
does not legitimately instill the state's interest in
protecting children.
"A categorical
ban on gay and unmarried couples from being both
foster and adoptive parents does not further the interests,
welfare, safety or health of children in the state of
Arkansas," Beiner said in the article. (The
Advocate)