Experts Clash on Gays’ Bids to Adopt Children

From Out Gay Life:

During 15 years as a child-welfare judge, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman has been a lawyer, a social worker and even a bit of a cheerleader, encouraging troubled parents to make better choices.

When Lederman rules later this month on a gay foster father’s petition to adopt the two small boys he has raised since 2004, she will have to wear yet another hat: social scientist.

In a one-week trial peppered with words like ”null hypothesis,” ”central limit theorem” and ”Pearson correlation,” a half-dozen experts in psychology, epidemiology, sociology and family studies presented starkly different views on whether gay men and women can be as good at parenting as straight people. The trial, which ran Oct. 1-6, was closed to the public, but The Miami Herald has obtained a transcript of the testimony.

Florida law bans gays from adopting. Valerie J. Martin, a Florida assistant attorney general who defended the statute, said same-sex couples are at far greater risk of many social ills, and “putting children who are already at risk into such a household would increase the stressors that these children already experience as a result of their placement in foster care.”

Where Does Your State Stand on Gay Adoption?

Here it is, an individual breakdown of all 50 states and where they stand on gay adoption.

Alabama allows single GLBT adoption. Does not clearly prohibit joint gay adoption. Second-parent adoption allowed in some areas.

Alaska allows single GLBT adoption. Does not clearly prohibit joint gay adoption. Second-parent adoption allowed in some areas.

Arizona allows single GLBT adoption. Does not clearly prohibit joint gay adoption. Second-parent adoption unclear.

Arkansas Legislation is not clear whether single gays or couples can adopt, but they currently have an initiative on November’s ballot to make it illegal for anyone not married to adopt, and of course, gay marriage is far from legal in this state.

California allows single GLBT and joint adoption. Second-parent adoption allowed.

Colorado allows same-sex couple adoption. Also allows grandparents and other individuals helping raise the child to adopt.

Connecticut allows single GLBT and joint adoption. Second-parent adoption allowed.

Delaware allows single GLBT adoption. Does not clearly prohibit joint gay adoption. Second-parent adoption allowed in some areas.

District of Columbia allows single GLBT and joint adoption. Second-parent adoption allowed.

Florida prohibits GLBT adoption.

Georgia allows single GLBT adoption. Does not clearly prohibit joint gay adoption. Second-parent adoption unclear.

Hawaii allows single GLBT adoption. Does not clearly prohibit joint gay adoption. Second-parent adoption allowed in some areas.

Idaho allows single GLBT adoption. Does not clearly prohibit joint gay adoption. Second-parent adoption unclear.

Illinois allows single GLBT and couples adoption. Second-parent adoption allowed.

Indiana allows single GLBT adoption. Does not clearly prohibit joint gay adoption. Second-parent adoption allowed in some areas.

Iowa allows single GLBT adoption. Does not clearly prohibit joint gay adoption. Second-parent adoption allowed in some areas.

Kansas allows single GLBT adoption. Does not clearly prohibit joint gay adoption. Second-parent adoption unclear.

Kentucky allows single GLBT adoption. Does not clearly prohibit joint gay adoption. Second-parent adoption unclear.

Louisiana allows single GLBT adoption. Does not clearly prohibit joint gay adoption. Second-parent adoption allowed in some areas.

Maine allows single GLBT adoption. On August 30, 2007 the Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled unanimously in their favor on grounds that prohibiting the adoption would be counter to Maine’s Adoption Act.

Maryland allows single GLBT adoption. Joint gay adoption unclear. Second-parent adoption allowed in some areas.

Massachusetts allows single GLBT and joint adoption. Second-parent adoption allowed.

Michigan allows single GLBT adoption. Prohibits joint adoption. Second-parent adoption unclear.

Minnesota allows single GLBT adoption. Joint gay adoption unclear. Second-parent adoption allowed in some areas.

Mississippi allows single GLBT adoption. Prohibits joint adoption. Second-parent adoption unclear.

Missouri stands unclear on all GLBT adoption.

Montana allows single GLBT adoption. Does not clearly prohibit joint gay adoption. Second-parent adoption unclear.

Nebraska stands unclear on GLBT adoption and prohibits second-parent adoption.

Nevada allows single GLBT adoption. Does not clearly prohibit joint gay adoption. Second-parent adoption allowed in some areas.

New Hampshire allows single GLBT adoption. Prohibits joint adoption. Second-parent adoption unclear.

New Jersey Permits single GLBT and joint adoption. Second-parent adoption allowed.

New Mexico allows single GLBT and joint adoption. Second-parent adoption allowed in some areas.

New York allows single GLBT and joint adoption. Second-parent adoption allowed.

North Carolina allows single GLBT adoption. Joint adoption unclear. Second-parent adoption unclear.

North Dakota stands unclear on GLBT and second-parent adoption.

Ohio allows single GLBT adoption. Does not clearly prohibit joint gay adoption. Second-parent adoption not allowed.

Oklahoma allows single GLBT adoption. Does not clearly prohibit joint gay adoption. Second-parent adoption unclear.

Oregon allows single GLBT and joint adoption. Second-parent adoption allowed in some areas.

Pennsylvania allows single GLBT adoption. Joint adoption unclear. Second-parent adoption allowed.

Rhode Island allows single GLBT adoption. Does not clearly prohibit joint gay adoption. Second-parent adoption allowed in some areas.

South Carolina allows single GLBT adoption. Joint adoption unclear. Second-parent adoption unclear.

South Dakota allows single GLBT adoption. Joint adoption unclear. Second-parent adoption unclear.

Tennessee allows single GLBT adoption. Does not clearly prohibit joint gay adoption. Second-parent adoption unclear.

Texas allows single GLBT adoption. Joint adoption unclear. Second-parent adoption allowed in some areas.

Utah allows single GLBT adoption. Joint adoption prohibited. Second-parent adoption unclear.

Vermont allows single GLBT and joint adoption. Second-parent adoption allowed.

Virginia allows single GLBT adoption. Does not clearly prohibit joint gay adoption. Second-parent adoption unclear.

Washington allows single GLBT adoption. Joint adoption unclear. Second-parent adoption in some areas.

West Virginia allows single GLBT adoption. Does not clearly prohibit joint gay adoption. Second-parent adoption unclear.

Wisconsin allows single GLBT adoption. Does not clearly prohibit joint gay adoption. Second-parent adoption prohibited.

Wyoming allows single GLBT adoption. Joint adoption unclear. Second-parent adoption unclear.

Florida Consitution Doesn’t Prevent Gay Families

From the Sun-Sentinel.com.

Adelle Barsky-Moore is 5, and she doesn’t know about wedge politics and the Culture War. All she knows is that she loves her two dads and they love her.

Her parents, Allan Barsky and Greg Moore, have been together 10 years. They were married in Canada, Barsky’s native country, in 2003. They wear wedding bands, are registered domestic partners in Broward and live in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.

Barsky, a professor at Florida Atlantic University, is opposed to Amendment 2 on the November ballot. It would constitutionally define marriage in Florida as between a man and woman. It states, “No other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized.”

Gay Families Find a Home in the Bronx

As surprising as it may seem, according to a study released last month by the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles, same-sex couples living in the Bronx are more likely to have children than those in any other place in New York City.

For Julian Rodriguez, pictured with his partner Joel Jusino, there was never any other place. Julian has lived in the Bronx since he was 3. “I feel more comfortable because the demographic is more what I’m used to, with my neighbors playing dominoes and the Spanish music,” said Mr. Rodriguez, “I feel like I’m at home with my culture.”  Julian has two daughters from a previous marriage.

Also according to the study, 49 percent of same-sex couples living in the Bronx have children. Many of the couples said they chose the area for the same reasons their straight neighbors did: affordability, space, racial affinity, familiarity.

The Bronx, is home to 11 percent of New York City’s 26,000 same-sex couples, however, gay and lesbian couples typically don’t gravitate to the burough as other neighborhoods are perceived to be more gay-friendly, like Park Slope, Brooklyn, or Chelsea in Manhattan. In fact, many say there are fewer support services and more harassment in the Bronx than other places in New York.

“The Bronx lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community has largely been a hidden community for a very long time because of very real homophobia,” said Lisa Winters, executive director of the Bronx Community Pride Center. “The Bronx is a very machismo borough, and it’s a very religious borough. The religious institutions have a very strong foothold here, and they preach from the pulpit that homosexuality is a sin. “But the world is starting to change,” she said, “and the Bronx is finally getting in line.” Recently, In the Life Ministry, a church geared toward gays and lesbians, opened at Tremont and Westchester Avenues.  There are also a growing number of gay-oriented bars and businesses. Gary J. Gates, a demographer and a senior research fellow at the Williams Institute, said the Bronx stands out nationally as one of few places “where the percent of same-sex couples raising children is virtually the same as different-sex couples raising children.”

Also according to the study, Manhattan is home of the largest population of same-sex couples in New York. 10,000, or 38 percent of the total in the city; 4 percent of those couples have children, compared to 41 percent of Manhattan’s married couples. About 21 percent of Brooklyn’s 7,000 same-sex couples are parents; 53 percent of their straight couple are. In Queens, there are 5,200 gay couples, 22 percent with children, and on Staten Island, 29 percent of the 1,000 same-sex couples are parents; in both of those areas, 51 percent of married straight couples have children.

Gates attributes the high rate of parenthood among Bronx gays to similar demographic findings.  Across the nation, black and Hispanic same-sex couples are twice as likely to have children than white same-sex couples, and the Bronx is 83 percent black or Hispanic. Also, given how expensive it can be to raise a family in New York, the Bronx offers a more affordable option.

Study Supports Gay Adoption and the Benefits

From the Chicago Tribune:

At the Neubecker residence in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood, David and Lee are Dad and Daddy, respectively, to a pair of foster siblings who sleep in pink princess and blue truck bedrooms, ride their bikes with helmets and always eat breakfast and dinner together.

David Neubecker, 39, and Lee Neubecker, 36, married in 2004 in San Francisco with dreams of having a family. They heard about the Hephzibah Children’s Association in Oak Park, where the couple became foster fathers last year to a 4-year-old boy and 5-year-old girl, with plans to adopt them.

“We both felt that biological ties were not the keystone to what makes a family. It was, first and foremost, love,” David Neubecker said. “It’s been an incredible journey so far.”

While Clay Aiken may be on the cover of People cradling his infant (through surrogacy) and Rosie O’Donnell has long shared stories of her brood with mainstream America, the highly charged issue of gay parenthood continues to rally conservatives, who say such homes are not in the best interest of a child.

Next Page »