Anti-Discrimination Bill Revived in House

A bill that would end discrimination against gay and lesbian couples seeking to adopt children has been reintroduced into the U.S. House.

The Every Child Deserves a Family Act was previously introduced last year by its sponsor, Representative Pete Stark (D-CA) but is being reintroduced with modified language.

On top of introducing the legislation, Stark is planning to lead a congressional briefing panel that will feature dialogue from experts on LGBT adoption, with the intended purpose of educating lawmakers on the bill’s importance. The discussions are set to begin March 11th.

The legislation is similar to the previously introduced bill, but it has been modified to allow for new educational programs aimed at helping children find homes.

The executive director of the Family Equality Council, Jennifer Chrisler stated:

“This bill added some language around training and education to help people understand what it is that they can and should do when it comes to looking for potential parents,”

The previous legislation found the support of 14 co-sponsors and that support is expected to carry over to the newer version.

Three states, including Florida, currently have a ban on adoption by gay and lesbian couples, and this law would circumvent any state level bans on gay adoption. Laws in many other states remain unclear about whether same-sex couples may adopt jointly.

Currently an estimated one million children are homeless in the U.S.

‘Every Child Deserves a Family Act’ Introduced

Congressman Pete Stark of California has proposed a federal bill, which if enacted into law, would deny funding to states that pass bills banning adoption by gay, transgender, or unmarried heterosexual parents. The bill, H.R. 3827, is called the ‘Every Child Deserves a Family Act’.

According to Stark’s website:

Chairman of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, today introduced H.R. 3827, the “Every Child Deserves a Family Act.” In the same manner that we ended race discrimination in adoption, this legislation would prohibit states and child welfare agencies from denying or delaying adoption or foster care placements solely based on the sexual orientation or marital status of the potential parents.

“It is unacceptable that states are denying children healthy, loving homes simply because of a potential parent’s sexual orientation or marital status,” said Rep. Stark. “The Every Child Deserves a Family Act ensures that the best interests of children are the only criteria for finding adoptive and foster parents.”

Over 129,000 children are awaiting an adoptive home or permanent placement, and there is a shortage of adoptive and foster parents. Those who never find a permanent family – about 25,000 a year who “age out” of the system – are more likely than nearly any other group to become homeless, incarcerated, or suffer with mental illness or substance abuse. Despite this shortage of adoptive and foster parents and the terrible consequences of long stays in the child welfare system, some states have enacted discriminatory bans prohibiting children from being placed with qualified parents due to the parent’s marital status or sexual orientation.

Nearly all mainstream organizations that advocate for children, including the Child Welfare League of America, the American Psychological Association, and the American Bar Association all support adoption and foster parenting by qualified unmarried and gay and lesbian parents.

This makes me especially happy as it will not only help provide loving homes and better futures for the over one-million homeless children living in the U.S., but it also will help redefine the line which separates church and state, as those states with bans on adoption by gays or lesbians have laws that were put into place by those who are members of the religious right.

To find out which states ban, or allow adoption by gay and lesbian adults, click here to visit Ramon Johnson’s About.com – gay life blog!