Arkansas AG Rejects Bid For Gay Adoption Ban
by The Associated Press

Posted: September 5, 2007 - 1:00 pm ET

(Little Rock, Arkansas) Arkansas's attorney general said Wednesday he will reject a proposed voter-backed initiative aimed at barring unmarried couples from adopting or fostering children. A conservative group hoped to use the ban to keep gay couples from becoming foster parents.

Attorney General Dustin McDaniel said the proposal submitted by the Arkansas Family Council is inconsistent. He said the group would be allowed to redraft and resubmit it.

"I strongly suspect they will incorporate our changes and maybe a few of their own, resubmit it, and I'll ultimately certify it. But it did not meet the legal requirements to certify it right now," McDaniel said.

Courts overturned Arkansas' previous ban on gay foster parents. Jerry Cox, the Arkansas Family Council's executive director, has said that a voter-led initiative that targeted all unmarried couples - not just gay couples - would better withstand a judge's review.

Cox said last month that the group believes cohabiting heterosexuals are not safe for children, either.

If McDaniel approves a new draft proposal and the Arkansas Family Council obtains 61,947 valid signatures in time, the proposal would be on the November 2008 ballot.

I don't see the problem with gay people adopting children. Do I think it's optimal, no. But is it better than being flopped around from one foster home to another? Without being too general, I'm sure it is. Some "pro-family" lobbyists are on crack.

I think the fact that they're willing to keep children out of ALL homes without married parents - just to be able to stop children from having a home with gay parents - is indicative of the mindset of these people.

Not that I ever agree with you. But I agree and this is sickening.

Obviously I do believe that gay couples are as good as straight couples for raising children.

To me, there doesn't seem to be any logical reason that gay couples should be inferior. One might suggest that both a man and woman is necessary for raising a child right, but what is there that a man can do which a woman can't? And what is there which a woman can do that a man can't? I submit that there is nothing one can do which the other cannot.

So I don't think there is any real logical reason to believe that one is inferior to the other. But what do studies on this subject say about it? Well, there haven't been any widespread studies on the subject, since that would be near impossible to conduct. But every reputable study we do have suggests that children of gay couples fare as well or better than children of straight couples.

For evidence of these studies, see these links:

http://www.srcd.org/journals/cdev/1-...%20summary.pdf
facts about children raised by gay and lesbian parents (reference the studies listed here)
SSRN-(How) Does The Sexual Orientation Of Parents Matter? by Judith Stacey, Timothy Biblarz
http://www.gottman.com/research/projects/gaylesbian/

So it seems to me that logic and evidence agree: gay couples are as good or better than straight couples for raising children.

Why do you feel differently?

Pee standing up. And as the mother of 5 boys, I know this is important. When I was a single mom with 3 boys it took awhile for my oldest to learn that trick.

Breast feed.

I know of two women who adopted a child, and they both have done a marvelous job in raising her.

We must preserve good, decent, christian family values to our society by banning everything that is gay. We must restore the greatness of America and subscribe to the teachings of the late Jerry Falwell, the good reverend Fred Phelps, and the senior senator from Idaho the honorable Larry Craig.

Uh, what did you have for breakfast this morning?