So something I don't understand is why so many people still assume that same-sex couples adopting kids is a bad thing. Gay couples are banned from joint adoption in the majority of countries, including France, Portugal, Italy, Greece, New Zealand, most of the US and most of Australia. Far fewer jurisdictions allow same-sex adoption that allow same-sex marriage, which I just don't understand. If you recognise, through the granting of nuptials, that same-sex relationships are equal to opposite-sex relationships, then why does that judgement not extend to the process of raising children?
This is of course an issue of the human rights of prospective homosexual parents, but I would make it clear that I agree that the right of people to parent children pales in comparison to the right of children to be raised in a healthy environment. So if there was any genuine proof that having two parents with the same genitalia damages children, I would put my hands up and step down from my soapbox. But this proof simply does not exist, and neither does any rational argument against the legalisation of same-sex adoption. A hasty google found me this list of "con" arguments from the UK-based version of "The Week" newsletter (quoted WFW):
The argument from Christianity falls flat on it's face- why, if you've already admitted that the majority of Brits don't attend church, would you still argue for enforcing Christian morality on the entire population? Not to mention the dubiousness of the bit of the bible used to argue against same-sex adoption, or the fact we've already legalised divorce, abortion, civil partnerships, etc etc etc.
The stupidity of the third argument make me want to throw up in someone's face, and I'm pretty sure anyone reading this is intelligent enough to see through it, so I'm not even going to bother going into it. As for the closing of Catholic adoption agencies... while this has the potential to be a regrettable outcome of SSA, I don't understand the logical step between this and the claim that "fewer children will be adopted". The children with these agencies won't stop being put up for adoption, they'll just be put up with a different agency. Prospective parents won't suddenly give up their search because the agency they were working with has closed down, either. Not to mention that if an agency is more concerned with hating gay people than finding homes for children, we might not want the nation's potential adoptees in their hands anyway... Aaand the last point isn't something I can even get my head around. A minority of the population find a thing wrong for no reason other than their own emotional bias, therefore no-one should ever do that thing ever? What? Seriously, what?
Blanketly assuming that all same-sex couples are unfit to raise children isn't just damaging to gay people, it's damaging to children. By turning away so many prospective parents, you are seriously damaging a child's chances of growing up in a family. I can't remember the source for this statistic, so please feel free to discard it if you wish, but in this country we currently have something close to eight children in foster care for every set of prospective adoptive parents. If we were suddenly to ban same-sex adoption, then that many more kids would spend their entire lives in children's homes.
(For the record, I know there isn't a serious motion to ban SSA in the UK, I'm just using said hypothetical situation to try and demonstrate why SSA is a good thing.)
So the urge to ban same-sex couples from adopting kids is irrational and invariably based on prejudice, and doing so hurts kids up for adoption as much as it hurts gay people. There is one last thing I would like to address, because it pisses me off.
So. Many. People. When wailing in opposition to same-sex adoption, or even just same-sex marriage, waggle their demonic blame-filled fingers towards the homosexuals of the world and scream "you're stealing babies from their birth mothers! Children have a right to be raised by the man and woman who created them! How could you deny them such a thing?!"
I have a cool, concise and rational message for everyone who has ever said anything along those lines: SHUT UP AND DO YOUR FUCKING HOMEWORK.
Do you honestly thing ANY gay person is so desperate to undermine the heterosexual paradigm or whatever that they are going to use legislation to adopt children right out of the homes of their birth family? Do you have any idea how the process of adoption works? Are you the slightest bit aware of how many children are in line to be adopted by prospective parents right now?
For the record, children cannot be adopted unless they have been given up by their birth parents, or their birth parents have died, or they have previously been removed from their birth parents for the sake of their welfare. No gay couple has the power to demand that a child be removed their birth family just because they want to adopt them. And I'm pretty sure no gay couple would, either. This argument betrays a pathological paranoia and hatred towards gay people which paints them as soulless demons who rip apart families for fun.
It kind of irks me, in case that wasn't clear.
Well, this is a disappointingly angsty way to end a blog post! To cheer everyone up again, here's a copyrighted picture of some toast:
This is of course an issue of the human rights of prospective homosexual parents, but I would make it clear that I agree that the right of people to parent children pales in comparison to the right of children to be raised in a healthy environment. So if there was any genuine proof that having two parents with the same genitalia damages children, I would put my hands up and step down from my soapbox. But this proof simply does not exist, and neither does any rational argument against the legalisation of same-sex adoption. A hasty google found me this list of "con" arguments from the UK-based version of "The Week" newsletter (quoted WFW):
- To grow up to be well-balanced adults, children need role models of both sexes. Boys without fathers under-achieve, especially since there are now fewer male teachers in primary schools.
- We are a 'Christian' country - even if few go to church, our values remain based on Christian teaching. Two parents are axiomatic - 'Honour thy father and mother', invokes the Fifth Commandment.
- Children raised by gay parents are offered only one partnership model and are therefore (some argue) more likely to be gay.
- If Roman Catholic adoption agencies close rather than allow gay couples to adopt, the number of adopted children will decline, leaving more in the unsatisfactory care system.
- Some areas of life cannot be legislated for and must be left to individual conscience. A sufficiently large minority simply find gay parenting 'wrong'; the practice therefore should not be enforced on all.
The argument from Christianity falls flat on it's face- why, if you've already admitted that the majority of Brits don't attend church, would you still argue for enforcing Christian morality on the entire population? Not to mention the dubiousness of the bit of the bible used to argue against same-sex adoption, or the fact we've already legalised divorce, abortion, civil partnerships, etc etc etc.
The stupidity of the third argument make me want to throw up in someone's face, and I'm pretty sure anyone reading this is intelligent enough to see through it, so I'm not even going to bother going into it. As for the closing of Catholic adoption agencies... while this has the potential to be a regrettable outcome of SSA, I don't understand the logical step between this and the claim that "fewer children will be adopted". The children with these agencies won't stop being put up for adoption, they'll just be put up with a different agency. Prospective parents won't suddenly give up their search because the agency they were working with has closed down, either. Not to mention that if an agency is more concerned with hating gay people than finding homes for children, we might not want the nation's potential adoptees in their hands anyway... Aaand the last point isn't something I can even get my head around. A minority of the population find a thing wrong for no reason other than their own emotional bias, therefore no-one should ever do that thing ever? What? Seriously, what?
Blanketly assuming that all same-sex couples are unfit to raise children isn't just damaging to gay people, it's damaging to children. By turning away so many prospective parents, you are seriously damaging a child's chances of growing up in a family. I can't remember the source for this statistic, so please feel free to discard it if you wish, but in this country we currently have something close to eight children in foster care for every set of prospective adoptive parents. If we were suddenly to ban same-sex adoption, then that many more kids would spend their entire lives in children's homes.
(For the record, I know there isn't a serious motion to ban SSA in the UK, I'm just using said hypothetical situation to try and demonstrate why SSA is a good thing.)
So the urge to ban same-sex couples from adopting kids is irrational and invariably based on prejudice, and doing so hurts kids up for adoption as much as it hurts gay people. There is one last thing I would like to address, because it pisses me off.
So. Many. People. When wailing in opposition to same-sex adoption, or even just same-sex marriage, waggle their demonic blame-filled fingers towards the homosexuals of the world and scream "you're stealing babies from their birth mothers! Children have a right to be raised by the man and woman who created them! How could you deny them such a thing?!"
I have a cool, concise and rational message for everyone who has ever said anything along those lines: SHUT UP AND DO YOUR FUCKING HOMEWORK.
Do you honestly thing ANY gay person is so desperate to undermine the heterosexual paradigm or whatever that they are going to use legislation to adopt children right out of the homes of their birth family? Do you have any idea how the process of adoption works? Are you the slightest bit aware of how many children are in line to be adopted by prospective parents right now?
For the record, children cannot be adopted unless they have been given up by their birth parents, or their birth parents have died, or they have previously been removed from their birth parents for the sake of their welfare. No gay couple has the power to demand that a child be removed their birth family just because they want to adopt them. And I'm pretty sure no gay couple would, either. This argument betrays a pathological paranoia and hatred towards gay people which paints them as soulless demons who rip apart families for fun.
It kind of irks me, in case that wasn't clear.
Well, this is a disappointingly angsty way to end a blog post! To cheer everyone up again, here's a copyrighted picture of some toast:
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