Gay Adoption Bill Without Friends
November is National Adoption Awareness Month and Congressman Fortney (Pete) Stark's (D-CA) federal bill, H.R.3827 "Every Child Deserves a Family Act" was introduced just in time. Interestingly, the bill touts the same tagline as the Congressman Stark introduced his bill on October 15, 2009, saying, "The 25,000 youth who never find a permanent family and 'age out' of the system each year are more likely than nearly any other group to become homeless, incarcerated, or suffer with mental illness or substance abuse. Stark's bill would restrict federal funding to states that discriminate against gays and lesbians who wish to adopt. Stark is building on the success of the Multi-Ethnic Placement Act he helped to pass in 1994.
The law could affect several states with existing or pending discriminatory adoption laws like Florida, Arkansas, Utah, Nebraska and Mississippi.
It is not clear why the bill is not gaining more support. While the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights organization, supports the bill in theory, it will only lobby Congress if the bill looks like it has a chance. At this point, the bills future is far from certain.
Even openly gay Congressmen Barney Frank (D-MA), Jared Polis (D-CO) and Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) have not signed on. Given the potential budgetary savings to a bill that reduces the number of children in foster care and the resulting cost of social welfare when these children reach adulthood, the silence is baffling.
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