ARK. JUDGE OK'S GAY FOSTER CARE: From the San Francisco Chronicle

An Arkansas judge's ruling allowing gays and lesbians to become foster parents contains findings on parental fitness that could have an impact in both the U.S. Supreme Court and a court in San Francisco, where major decisions on the rights of same-sex couples are imminent.

In his ruling Wednesday, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Timothy Fox said the ban enacted by an Arkansas state agency in 1999 had nothing to do with protecting children's health or welfare, but instead was an attempt to regulate "public morality," which is beyond the agency's authority. Fox also issued a series of findings, based on testimony by child welfare and mental health experts:

-- Children of lesbian and gay parents are as well-adjusted as other children.

-- Being raised by lesbian or gay parents doesn't increase a child's risk of psychological, behavior or academic problems, confusion about gender identity, difficulties in relating to peers, or child abuse.

-- There is no evidence that heterosexual parents can guide children through adolescence any better than homosexual parents can. ...

Arkansas and Florida are among the few states with sexual orientation restrictions on adoption or foster parenting. Mississippi forbids adoption by lesbian or gay couples, though not by individuals, and Utah bars all unmarried couples from becoming foster or adoptive parents. ...

But officials in Arkansas and Florida argue that the ideal situation for a child, which a state is entitled to promote in its laws, is to be raised by a mother and father. That position was endorsed by the federal appeals court in Atlanta that upheld a Florida law banning adoption by any gay, lesbian or bisexual.

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posted by Eve at 1:37 PM | Link |

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