Running head: LGBT ADOPTION 1
LGBT Adoption
Thomas Gregorcyk
Ottawa University
LGBT Adoption
New Jersey’s statewide parenting legislation espouses a progressive stance on the matters of same-sex parenting and child care in the processes of adoption and foster parenting. The Garden State allows for same-sex adoption; allows single homosexuals to adopt; and allows second parent same-sex adoption (Lifelong Adoptions, 2013). New Jersey has passed progressive laws and policies that prohibit discrimination charged against LGBT individuals in the adoption process (Lifelong Adoptions, 2013).
New Jersey state law also bans
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History of LGBT Adoption Rights
Social movements and countercultures during the 1960’s and 1970’s emerged and challenged institutionalized oppression. The Civil Rights movement addressed the plight of African Americans in a viciously racist society. LGBT rights and the feminist movement actively subverted traditional gender norms through political activism (Rauch,2005). The American public’s disapproval of the Vietnam War served as the political platform to advance anti-war, civil rights, feminist, and LGBT political agendas in the increasing struggle for equal rights in a discriminatory inequitable society (Brodzinsky & Pertman, 2012).
The social movements of the 60’s and 70’s impacted the traditional views of adoption in the United States. The trend of challenging the dominant society’s oppressive social structures that best represent the interests of the dominant group, influenced society to question adoption laws during the 1970’s (Hicks, 1998).
Much like today, openly LGBT applicants were barred from adoption. The majorities of the cases was and still are second-parent adoptions, in which the biological parent is the legal guardian and their life partner petitions the state court to adopt (Montana, 2009). Adopting a child that is unrelated to either partner is still difficult in contemporary society; however, it is no longer illegal in most states (Brodzinsky &
An organization called the Independent Adoption Center is an open adoption agency that works has facilitated adoptions in 49 states with couples and individuals who are looking to adopt. They have no exclusionary policies and restrictions towards race, religion, age, martial status, sexual orientation, or gender identity. The IAC has indicated that families that are transgender have the same wait time as heterosexual, gay male, and lesbian couples. Additionally they indicated that no state prohibits transgender parents from adopting children. The only thing that is different however is when individuals want to adopt. At this time, Mississippi and Utah prohibit adoptions by lesbians and gay men. Also there has only been about five placements
This article talks about the support of second parent adoption for gays everywhere. They support the idea that children with two capable adults no matter what gender are able and should be able to care for a child. Although they support this, the article does not show any sort of negativity toward the opposite side relating the issue. The site details the rights that the second parent should be guaranteed through an adoption. They also think that pediatricians and other professions dealing with children should get more familiar with learning about gays and the children they adopt. The authors are the Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health. The people in the committee have many different backgrounds and are advocates for children’s
The unjust and prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex is discriminating; according to the Oxford dictionary. This term does not empower them, but instead make people feel powerless. Same-sex couples in particular, who are looking to adopt, feel unequal to their heterosexual associates. In relation to adoption, there shouldn’t be preference to heterosexual couples over same-sex couples. Adoption typically is not an easy process, but when it comes to people of the same sex trying to adopt, what seems to be as simple as to buying a puppy, is very intimidating and discouraging. The laws that govern these decisions do not help at all. The inconsistency amongst all of the states in America makes the process even more challenging, to the point where couples give up. Same-sex couples who are fortunate enough to be allowed by the courts to adopt, are still being judgmental. The judgments are based on their parenting abilities and the effects their lifestyle they live, whether it will have a negative backlash on the children. The intention of my analysis on same-sex adoption is to examine some of the bifurcation and the challenges that these individuals encounter while trying to legally adopt a child.
Social attitudes about family life have undergone profound changes in recent decades. While public acceptance of homosexuality remains a deeply decisive issue, adoption by gays and lesbians has become increasingly acceptable, with 46% of the national population favoring gay adoption. (Pew Research Center, 2006) In New York State, statutes developed to permit gays to adopt are among the most permissive in the nation. New York Adoption Code 18 NYCRR 421.16 (h)(2) (2004) states that "applicants shall not be rejected solely on the basis of homosexuality", which expressly prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation when determining who may adopt.
The fate of where a child is placed is put in the hands of state social workers and judges. The guidelines for who can be a foster or adoptive parent can often become blurred when dealing with opinionated social workers that validate ability to be a parent with their own beliefs. Homosexual foster parents are often denied the right to adopt a child based on their sexuality. According to a survey done in 1999-2000 only 60% of adoption agencies would accept same sex couples applications (Paul). In 2007,
British artist Jenny Saville (b.1970) is known for her large scale confronting nude paintings and self-portraits. She has “expanded the self-portrait tradition, to raise questions about accepted ideals of beauty in fine art and life” (Borzello 179), through deviating from traditional passive reclining nudes. In doing this Saville is exploring and celebrating the female form with all its bodily imperfections. Her compositions are unconventional in scale and perspective. Her models appear in obscure and often distorted body positions, which are enlarged to fill the entire canvas. They are painted on a massive scale (Figure 8), some being more than two metres tall and requiring her to paint from a ladder to reach the entire canvas. It is important
The ban on gay adoption has been in place since 1977, when the state legislature almost unanimously condoned restriction of the rights of its gay citizens. The lines of public and private are particularly blurred when it comes to adoption. Adoption is a completely public process; there is no privacy for the couple or individual involved as they are scrutinized by the state, whether they be homosexual or not. The state is justified in violating a person's right to privacy in the best interest of the child or children they may adopt. At the time of the Florida law's inception, Senator Curtis Peterson, one of its primary supporters, spoke to the law's purpose: "The problem in Florida has been that homosexuals are surfacing to such an extent that they're beginning to aggravate the ordinary folks. We're trying to send them a message, telling them: 'We're really tired of you. We wish you'd go back into the closet" (2).
In conclusion, the augment for gay adoption is far stronger and far better supported than those opposed. One must admit that sexual orientation is fundamentally irrelevant to a person’s capacity to be a good parent. The opposition to gay and lesbian adoption has failed to support its
Since the 1990’s approximately 8-10 million children in the US alone are raised in a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgender (LGBT) household. Same-Sex Adoption is controversial because many people throughout the world are against LGBT adoption; but when faced with the number of kids who pray everyday for someone out there wanting to be the parent of a foster child, it is difficult to understand why the topic of gay adoption is controversial. Yes, there can be a bad outcome but there can also be a very good outcome of these kinds of adoptions. The LGBT Adoption situation can be fixed by allowing any adult or parent to adopt a child if they have the right living environment or the knowledge and skills that it takes to raise a kid in the proper way. But social workers have reservations on considering gay adoptive parents because they are fearful of how the parents will treat and raise the children and how they will grow up feeling. People who oppose same sex marriage, including U.S. elected officials, have argued that a child raised by a LGBT parent will need additional emotional support or will face social challenges compared to children with heterosexual parents (Borreli). Although many people believe that LGBT parents shouldn’t be allowed to adopt because it affects the child, LGBT parents should be allowed to adopt because many kids need a place to call home or someone they can call family, they need someone in a similar situation that they can talk
“State policies banning gay men and lesbians from fostering or adopting children hurt everyone involved” (Hunt and Krehely). Banning same sex couples from adopting is taking away that child’s chance at being able to be in a loving, stable environment and this could dramatically affect the outcome of their lives. There are many positive advantages that the child can get if they were adopted by a lesbian or gay couple.
Adoption is metamorphosing into a radical new process that is both sweeping the nation and changing it. But this process is not an easy one, there are many steps to go through. Through research it is made a lot easier. Adoption is a also a highly visible example of a social institution that has benefits from and been reshaped by both the Internet and the exponential growth of alternative lifestyles, from single to transracial to gay. It is accelerating our transformation into a more multicultural society; even as it helps redefine out understanding of “family.” The process includes three main steps including a type of adoption, the techniques for location a baby for adoption, arranging
More and more LGBT couples want to adopt. By allowing LGBT couples to adopt, you are taking more children out of foster care and placing them in loving homes. LGBT parents typically adopt the children with the greatest needs. Twenty-one of the fifty states currently allow for second-parent adoption. A majority of states no longer deny custody or visitation rights based on sexual orientation. There is no evidence that LGBTs are unfit parents (Lyons 25-26).
Gay parents are facing discrimination because of their sexual orientation. Twenty-two states currently allow single gays to adopt and 21 states currently allow gay and lesbian couples to adopt in the U.S. (Mallon, 2007, p. 6). The ability of gay couples to rear a child should not be denied only because they are gay. Homosexuals may be looked down upon by society, but they still are humans and have morals. These morals they possess, may influence a child more than those morals taught to a child with heterosexual parents. All over the world, children suffer in families consisting of alcoholics, drug abusers, and sexual abusers (Powell, 2007, p.1). It is not possible that these environments are safer than what would be provided by homosexual
“About 19 percent of same-sex couples raising children reported having an adopted child in the house in 2009, up from just 8 percent in 2000.” As society changes there opinions on same-sex marriage they more gays and lesbians are adopting. There was recent rise in same-sex adoption but there is still people in U.S. that are against same-sex adoption. Recently a judge in Kentucky objected gay and lesbian adoption. This caused a huge uproar and had people thinking whether or not gay and lesbian adoption is okay for the children. One article feels that state legislators are putting more hurdles in the way of adoption and preventing children from getting into loving and caring homes (“Adoptions are declining,”2017). Gays and lesbians being able to adopt will provide loving homes, get kids out of foster care, and they choose to be parents.
Since the early 1900s, homosexual people have become increasingly popular and greatly resisted. People that are homosexual face barriers placed upon them by the political system and society. Due to these challenges, homosexuals fought to have the same marital and parental rights as heterosexual people. Same-sex adoption is not prohibited in most states in the United States of America and many places worldwide. Family is not determined solely on blood relations and should be legalized in all parts of the world; because homosexual parents are just as good as heterosexual parents, if not better, and can provide an enriching second chance for many children waiting to be adopted.