It's no surprise by now that the people behind the anti-gay-marriage movement who claimed that they only cared about protecting marriage and that the state constitutional amendments they passed in state after state would never, ever apply to gay people beyond the simple ban on marriage rights, were, one must say, full of shit. As expected, the same people and organizations and churches behind the amendments are now moving forward in their attempts to legislate gays and lesbians out of as many aspects of public life as they can.
While I've lived in D.C. and Virginia for 20 years now, my home of origin is Kentucky -- no matter the issues I have with it or my family, no matter how far I may stray from demographic of coal mines and horse farms, I remain a Kentucky boy at heart. So there's a certain level at which it hurts to see these same folks who passed a gay marriage ban in my home state now turn their attention to adoption. The proposed law requires that children only be placed in adoptive and foster homes with people are "not cohabiting outside of a marriage that is legally valid in Kentucky" -- a not particularly subtle approach, you'd have to say.
I hope some of the old friends from home that I've reconnected with in small and large ways over the past year will consider thinking about this bill -- Kentucky Senate Bill 68 -- for a few minutes and calling or e-mailing your state representatives to urge a stop to it. The idea that only straight, legally married couples can provide foster and adoptive homes to needy children is not only disputed by research, it's disputed by our own life experiences. Having two straight, un-divorced parents is no guarantee of a healthy upbringing -- case in point, preacher's kids. Please, we all knew those.
The ability to provide a stable and loving home has nothing to do with sexual orientation. This attempt, like the ongoing battle in Florida and the recent voter initiative in Arkansas, aren't about what's best for children in need of a family -- it's about sating the political desires of anti-gay activists.
And when it comes down to it, Kentuckians, do you really want to follow the lead of Arkansas?
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