Last month I wrote about gay and lesbian families not being allowed to adopt. I find this notion to be absolutely absurd. A person’s sexuality does not define his or her parental ability. With so many children in the foster system awaiting a forever home why would anyone deny available homes prior to all the checks that need to be made? We should be encouraging more people to explore domestic adoption as an option. We should be training more loving foster homes. What adults choose to do with their significant others behind closed doors doesn’t seem like it should even enter the equation.
The state of Florida has finally come to its senses in this regard. The state has agreed that denying a family the option to adopt over this issue is unconstitutional. There are numerous reasons to deny a home the opportunity to adopt. Those reasons are all valid and have to do with the long-term care of children. Adoptive homes go through rigorous checks to help assure a good and stable life for the children.
It really was time for the law to go. It’s over 30 years old and not in keeping with today’s views. Not only was the law itself silly, but the criteria for adoptive home acceptability was skewed. The rationale behind the law was that children need the stability of a mother and a father at home. That’s all well and good, but a large majority of adoptions were to single parents; so much for the importance of the two opposite sex parent home. Even convicts were allowed to adopt with some exceptions.
We do a lot to try to protect and provide for children. Sometimes our efforts are unnecessarily overreaching. Our children deserve homes. Children should have as many opportunities to love and be loved as possible.