One small step...

The Florida ban on adoption by same-sex couples was declared unconstitutional! Finally, a victory for equal-rights activists!

It is terrible that bans like this exist in our country. With so many children waiting in orphanages and foster homes, being denied normal childhoods, I wonder how anyone could deny loving couples the opportunity to adopt. If people think that being raised by a same-sex couple is bad, how about a heterosexual abusive couple? Or being passed around from foster home to foster home, with no permanent family?

This is not an issue of who is right, who is wrong, and who’s going to Hell. It’s about love and belongingness. It’s about having someone there for you. So many lives are torn apart by these types of bans.

In Arkansas, for instance, they recently passed a ban—originally initiated to prevent same-sex couples from adopting—that outlaws adoption or foster care by any unmarried couple.
This is ridiculous. Loving parents are loving parents. Gay, straight, married, unmarried, old, young, whatever. The alternative is worse. I’m sure the “psychological damage” that supposedly results from being raised by a same-sex couple is nothing compared to the trauma of being bounced around by a broken adoption system.
What’s next? Is Arkansas going to pull children from their single parents? Are they going to prohibit divorce? Around the country, situations like Proposition 8 are taking rights away from homosexuals. It’s horrible.

And I know that not everyone supports equal rights, and to them I say this: how can you do that to the children? Stop thinking about the parents for one moment, and think about what this will do to children everywhere, who are without families? You may view homosexuality is a sin, but I view depriving these children of a loving home as an even greater crime.

What Happened to The First Amendment?

Proposition 8.  Arguably one of the most controversial laws passed by voters in this country.  Also, one that has highlighted so much that is wrong in this country, at a time in which so much went right.  Such a paradox: Barack Obama, an African-American, elected president, at the same time that marriage rights are forcibly taken from homosexuals.

Here's the thing that frustrates me most about Prop. 8: it is literally unconstitutional.  It says it right there, First Amendment in the Constitution, Separation of Church and State.  Everything about Prop. 8 is the Church getting their hands dirty in the State's cookie jar.  It was put up by the Church, funded by the Church, organized by the Church, and voted for by the Church.  And the weirdest thing is that the most vocal and powerful Church that helped pass Prop. 8 was the Mormon Church.  According to an article in The New York Times, the Mormons "made up 80 percent to 90 percent of the early volunteers who walked door-to-door in election precincts" and "as much as half of the nearly $40 million raised on behalf of the measure was contributed by Mormons".  But the Mormons are polygamists, and the law defines marriage as "one man and one woman", not "one man and a dozen women"!  Well, as long as it isn't two men, or two women, right?  Because that would be a sign of the Apocalypse!

So, back to the Constitution.  It says, Religious Freedom - no interference by government, no imposition by other religions.  I'd say the Church making a law defining marriage definitely imposes upon me and you.  Dan Agin, in an article in The Huffington Post, puts it quite well.  He writes, "It's one thing for clergy to impose values on their own flock - - it's something quite different for clergy to impose values on people outside their flock."  Well said, sir!  I'm not a member of the Catholic or Christian or Mormon or any other Church, and I don't need them telling me whom I can legally marry!  

Well, there's a bright side to this debacle - the country is up in arms over the law, and things will be changed.  There are a lot of people, homosexual or heterosexual or transexual or bisexual or whatever you feel like calling yourself, who are pissed off and not letting this issue go away.  Through the tools of Facebook and other social networking sites, people are protesting all over the nation.  Today, there was a protest held in Rhode Island, on the steps of the State House (kudos if you went!) at the same time as other protests at every state capitol in the nation.  Trust me, this infraction of our civil and religious rights will not be forgotten, and it will be fought to the end.  Look out for new referendums or legislation or court cases that tackle this issue head-on.  They will be coming.

It's All For The Children

As you all know, California passed Prop. 8, making it illegal for homosexuals to marry.  But did you know that it is now also illegal for both homosexual and heterosexual couples that are not married to adopt children?  

According to an Op-Ed article in The New York Times, Arkansas passed the Proposed Initiative Act No. 1 by a 57 % vote.  The law bans those who are not legally married from being foster parents or adopting children.  The law bans both gay and straight couples, but the Arkansas Family Council (who sponsored the law) has stated that it was written specifically to thwart "the gay agenda".  Hold on a sec - "the gay agenda"?  Does anyone else have a problem with that sentence?  I thought gays just wanted to be able to live their lives that way they wanted, the way that they're comfortable with, and maybe get married and have children, like anybody else.  Turns out maybe they've got an ulterior motive - like, say, any and all Muslims?

Well, this law is supposed to help children, by limiting their parents to only those who are married.  Sounds like the Arkansas Family Council believes that only married couples are fit to be parents.  But wait - where's the research to show that that's true?  Did they ever consider that being married does not automatically make you a good parent? (answer: of course they didn't - they're the Family Council, so they know what's best for parents)  

Here's another problem with the law: this can destroy families.  Say that a parent passes away - what happens to their child?  It used to be that a relative could adopt the child - something that I think we all would feel comfortable with for our child, and a situation in which the child would undoubtably feel more secure and comfortable in.  But now, unless that relative is married, the child is screwed - it's off to a foster home, or into state custody until they get adopted.  I can only imagine the terror and uncertainty the child must feel.  Now, yes, I know that there are many children that would not get a chance to live with relatives anyway, because they don't have relatives - but for those that do, it must be all the worse knowing that they could have gone to live with a family member.

So now gays are screwed - absolutely no way for them to have children.  Can't have children unless they're married, and can't get married.  But here's a scary thought: how long until the social conservatives decide that they should have the final word in any aspect of child-rearing - including whether we're "fit" to care for our own biological children?  Think about it - it's not that big a step away.