HE CALLS THEM "DAD": From the Pa. Times-Leader

They've been in a committed relationship for nine years, but Don Murray and Donnie Strawser always felt there was something missing.

The same-sex couple worked hard to develop a strong, loving relationship, they said. But their happiness was tempered by an unfulfilled desire each had: to have someone call them "dad."

It took two years, lots of hearings and even more patience, but the men got their wish Dec. 21 when Murray's adoption of Shawn, an 11-year-old foster child for whom he and Strawser were caring, was finalized.

With the adoption, Murray and Strawser join more than 300,000 homosexual men and women nationwide who were identified in the 2000 U.S. Census as raising children, said Sean Cahill of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in New York.

While it remains a controversial societal debate, gay adoptions have gained approval through courts nationwide, Cahill said. Currently only two states, Florida and Mississippi, ban adoptions by homosexuals, he said. ...

The couple, of Grant Street, said they love children and thought about adopting for years. Having once been a foster child, Murray said he chose to work through the foster care system because he wanted to help children from troubled homes overcome their problems.

"There are hundreds of thousands of kids in Pennsylvania sitting in group homes and foster homes who desperately need someone to love them. That's what Donnie and I are trying to do with these children, show them caring and love," Murray said.

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