Last week’s Supreme Court hearings on marriage equality reminded me of how many states not only have laws against homosexual couples marrying, but also ban them from being able to adopt. Both policies are heartless and unfair, and there’s no excuse for them. But as a parent and the editor of a family magazine—and as the son of a mother who gave up another son to be adopted—I have a few added thoughts on the issue.
I’m dazzled that even proponents of a traditional definition of marriage would cast a vote to make a parent-less child the ward of the state before giving the child the opportunity to be a adopted by a gay person. Who would want that fate (the ward of the state) for their own child? And if you wouldn’t want that for your child, why would you want that for any child? Children need parents. Gay adoption bans are flagrantly anti-family. In keeping our most needy children from stable homes and a life with dedicated parents, I think such laws are immoral. The only things fueling these adoption bans are hatred and ignorance. The good news is they can be overcome.
Eric Messinger is Editor of New York Family. He can be reached at [email protected]
