UPDATE 2/25/09: The Banning of Gay Adoption: It's Not Just About Marriage - The Conservatives are Two Steps Ahead

UPDATE 2/25/09: The Tennessee bill that would ban unmarried couples from adopting (see story below) has now been submitted to the state's general assembly.

UPDATE: A new bill is being drafted and submitted to the Tennessee legislature that would ban same-sex couples from adopting. Sen. Paul Stanley filed the bill, and to disguise the blatant discrimination inherent in its purpose, the bill would also ban opposite-sex couples, who are not married, from adopting as well.

Great way of putting the child first.

This will be the third attempt to ban same-sex adoptions in Tennessee, and though it sounds futile to try a third time, same-sex marriage was banned with 80% of a populace vote, and this time around, the GOP holds the majority in both houses of legislation.

Contact Sen. Stanley and let him know of your disapproval.

Phone: (615) 741-3036
Email: sen.stanley@paulstanley.org
Facebook: Public Page

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I'm hearing whispered concerns throughout the community that the fight for same-sex marriage is losing steam as less and less rallies and protests are organized, and those that do occur, get little or no press. I share the concerns, but I'm also aware that many town halls are being planned. I'd like to think that this "lull" is the community regrouping and planning for ACTION, real steps to spur the movement forward, instead of just angrily marching down streets.

In the meantime, I keep scouring news sites for any news stories, editorials and media, and I came across this Time article on the fight for legal gay adoption. And quite frankly, it scares the shit out of me.

As we continue to focus our attention on gay marriage, the conservative front that has won every fight thus far in 45 states, is now turning their focus to gay adoption. Basically, we're several steps behind. As the article states, there's no where else really for them to go in the marriage battleground, and since they're not only happy to strip us of our basic right to marriage, they want to strip us of our right to any sort of family. Are we prepared to engage them on this fight? Or are we as unprepared as we were for the marriage battle?

To quote the article:

More...

"Meanwhile, conservative activists across the country are working hard to make sure that no court, at any level, has the final word on gay adoption. Like gay marriage before it, conservatives are looking at the issue of who can raise children as one best decided at the ballot box, not in the courthouse. Those efforts received a boost on election day in Arkansas, where voters easily passed a law that restricts any unmarried couple living together from adopting children. Arkansas joined Florida, Nebraska, Utah and Mississippi as the only states with laws that either directly or indirectly ban adoption by gays.

"Similar statehouse fights are pending in South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee, says gay adoption expert and advocate Jennifer Chrisler, and more are likely to follow, as conservatives try to duplicate their successful strategy to ban gay marriage state by state. 'The other side was very strategic about their efforts to ban gay marriage," Chrisler, executive director of the Family Equality Center in Boston, told TIME. "They were able to bring that issue to the attention of the American people well before Americans were ready to have that conversation. They are likely to use a similar strategy when it comes to parenting issues.'"

Before the Supreme Court ruling in May granting gay marriage here in California, I had all but resolved myself that I would never get married, but once this right was given to me, I was thrilled, making the stripping away of this right that much more painful. However, I always saw myself becoming a parent, something I've always wanted to be, a right that many states in this country allow for gay people.

IF THE CONSERVATIVE RIGHT HAVE THEIR WAY, THEY WILL STRIP ALL OF US OF THIS RIGHT, TOO. And that cuts me to the quick.

I CALL UPON EVERYONE in the LGBTQ community, as they hold these town halls, discussing how we should continue the fight for gay marriage, to also discuss how we are to fight the conservatives on their equally strategic, manipulative and deceptive campaign to strip us of our rights to be parents.

If they have their way, they will strip us of every right we currently have, making us no more effective in our own lives and our own country than small children, forcing us to ask them for permission on everything we want to do and be, making us so much less than second-class citizens, but basically non-existant.

Are we prepared?