Sunday, February 20, 2005
Stop the Insanity
Posted by Bruce Barry on Sun, Feb 20, 2005 at 8:47 AM
State Sen. Doug Jackson (Democrat from Dickson), quoted in The Tennessean's story on bills he has introduced that would ban both foster parenting and adoption by gay people:
And by the way, Jackson's bills are even worse that they sound. From the foster parenting bill (Senate Bill 1924):
So in other words, not only can't a gay person be a foster parent, a hetero couple whose gay parent is living with them can't be either? Or whose sister living with them kisses another woman one time? Apparently the wholesome "traditional values" that Sen. Jackson celebrates are bigotry, judgmentalism, and guilt by association.
And check out this provision of an alternative no-gay-adoption bill (Senate Bill 1615), introduced by Sen. Jim Bryson (Republican from Franklin):
So in this bill, unless I'm missing something, Tennesseeans would be prohibited from giving up a child for gay adoption in another state that allows it! All of this is beyond repugnant. Will our allegedly Democratic governor step up to the plate and use a little political capital to help put a stop to this nonsense?
Nobody wants to deprive another citizen of the opportunity to have children and have the experience of being parents. But I'm not looking at this issue from the perspective of the parents; we have to consider the interest of the child, also....We need to put children in a stable, wholesome home environment with traditional values that reflects the values of Tennessee.
And by the way, Jackson's bills are even worse that they sound. From the foster parenting bill (Senate Bill 1924):
No person may serve as a foster parent if that person is a homosexual or if an adult member of that person's household is a homosexual. As used in this section, "homosexual" means any person who voluntarily and knowingly engages in or submits to any sexual contact involving another person of the same gender.
So in other words, not only can't a gay person be a foster parent, a hetero couple whose gay parent is living with them can't be either? Or whose sister living with them kisses another woman one time? Apparently the wholesome "traditional values" that Sen. Jackson celebrates are bigotry, judgmentalism, and guilt by association.
And check out this provision of an alternative no-gay-adoption bill (Senate Bill 1615), introduced by Sen. Jim Bryson (Republican from Franklin):
No surrender or parental consent shall be valid if the surrendering or consenting party has knowledge that a prospective adoptive parent of the child is a homosexual, regardless of the state in which that prospective adoptive parent resides.
So in this bill, unless I'm missing something, Tennesseeans would be prohibited from giving up a child for gay adoption in another state that allows it! All of this is beyond repugnant. Will our allegedly Democratic governor step up to the plate and use a little political capital to help put a stop to this nonsense?
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