Gay Family Values
Thursday, Jul. 05, 2007
By TIM PADGETT




Clockwise from left to right Hollie Seeley and Christy Allen with their children, Amelia Allen-Seeley and Foster Allen-Seeley in Congress Park, Denver, CO.


Hollie Seeley and Christy Allen have been together for seven years, own a home in Denver and are raising two kids. So they were disappointed last fall when Colorado voters joined the bandwagon of states that ban same-sex marriage and civil unions. But the couple won a measure of vindication this spring when Governor Bill Ritter signed a bill making Colorado the 10th state to allow gay and lesbian partners to adopt children as couples instead of restricting parental rights to one partner. Now Seeley can legally adopt Allen's biological daughter Amelia, 2, and Allen can adopt Seeley's adopted son Foster, 1, and this ability to become more like other families delights the couple. "Being able to give our children that kind of legal, two-parent security," says Seeley, 36, a medevac nurse, "means more than being able to marry."


It also means a lot to the bill's opponents, who fear that legalizing gay partners' parenthood is tantamount to legitimizing their couplehood. Both sides recognize the paradox: some of the same states that have rejected gay marriage are endorsing gay adoption. After winning constitutional amendments in 11 states to ban gay marriage in 2004, conservatives put gay adoption in their crosshairs last year--and misfired in every state they targeted. Since then, they have continued to suffer legislative defeats in states like Arkansas, which banned gay marriage in 2004 but earlier this year saw a bill to prohibit gay adoption die in committee. Only Florida denies gays and lesbians the right to adopt under any circumstances.

But the gay adoption boom may be less about support for gay rights than it is about the urgency of finding homes for abandoned children. There are as many as 120,000 in the U.S. waiting to be adopted. After Congress ordered states in 1997 to move faster to find more families willing to take in these kids, "child-welfare organizations banded together to get legislatures to allow any qualified parent to adopt, irrespective of sexual orientation," says Rob Woronoff, gay and lesbian program director at the Child Welfare League of America in Washington. The movement got a boost in 2002 when the American Academy of Pediatrics said the "health, adjustment and development" of kids adopted by gay parents were no worse than those of kids placed with heterosexuals. By 2006, a Pew Center poll found, support of gay adoption had risen from 38% in 1999 to 46% and opposition had fallen from 57% to 48%.
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Gay family values???? Now thats an oxymoron.


What really gay family values really????

If you want men destroyed as a species thats your problems just dont brainwash our children.

You made a choice I dont believe in all that it was the way I was born you know what.

You made a choice not to add anything to society just leach of it, Well maybe the gay guys can design a mean leather jacket.

Wow! They look like a happy family! I know all too many heterosexual families that don't come near to being that close as a family. I will be happy to see that when these adopted children are older, they can spread the message of love toward all people regardless of sexual orientation. Next step, make civil unions legal everywhere!

Interesting topic, but is there a reason it's here, unless you're looking for opposition? Like Oxy just did?

*walks around the trap, looks down and waves to Oxy*

"Good luck climbing outta this one Buddy!"

Next step making equal rights to marriage contracts, everywhere.
Children flourish in loving families. Be they straight or gay. It's tragic when States make laws taking that opportunity away, simply because bigotry is tradition.


Edit to add: This thread is for the purpose of relating an article about family values and children's opportunities in gay families. Please, I ask members that have an issue with gays, to leave this thread alone and abide by the forum rules. Thank you.

...So... The lesbian has her own biological daughter... yet... somehow is destroying the human race? Imo, it needs knocking down a few pegs anyway, seeing as there are too many of us on this planet anyway. The only reason we war is for both territory and natures way of keeping our numbers down (both mankind and ants are the only social speices that war with our own kind).

So much for that worthless "but marriage is supposed to produce children!" argument that's been passed around against Gay Unions and marriage. Looks like they are already having healthy children, whether adopted or natural, although the bizarre contraposition in Colorado of allowing gays to adopt children while not even allowing them Civil Unions is exceedingly strange (although seeing James Dobson's face when he found out about this would be priceless.).

Recent disruptions to this particular area of the board have led to several rule changes wich you may or may not be aware of. All members participating in the Spirituallity boards should make themselves familiar with the rule changes which can be accessed Here