Independent Adoption Center » gay marriage

Illinois Senate Committee Rejects Bill to Allow Adoption Discrimination against LGBT Families

Ann Wrixon — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 18:25:47 +0000

On April 13, 2011, an Illinois State Senate Committee rejected a proposed law that would have allowed religious organizations to deny services to LGBT families seeking to adopt or foster children.

According to the Huffington Post, “The legislation, which was sponsored by Democratic Sen. David Koehler, would have amended the state’s recently passed civil unions law and allowed religious child welfare agencies to ‘decline an adoption or foster family home application’ to a couple in a civil union if ‘acceptance of that application would constitute a violation of the organization’s sincerely held religious beliefs.’” Read the full article posted on April 13, 2011 to the Huffington Post.

The IAC opposes any law that discriminates against potential adoptive parents for any reason, including sexual orientation, marital status, religion, and race.

For more on this topic read our posts on same sex adoption in Florida:

‘Coming out of the Closet’ with Domestic Infant Adoption

Sarah Bryson — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 00:04:59 +0000

Ann Wrixon, the Executive Director of the Independent Adoption Center reports on Gay and Lesbian adoption in the United States today. David Perry of Comcast’s “Ten Percent”* questions Wrixon on state legislation surrounding LGBT adoption and what role the IAC is playing to advocate for same-sex couples who want to adopt.

Having placed about 1000 infants with LGBT families over the course of 29 years, the Independent Adoption Center has been involved in numerous studies and has a lot of information to offer on this topic. Wrixon urges all same-sex families hoping to adopt that even if they aren’t going to adopt through the IAC, they can feel welcome to call and have their questions answered.

*Ten Percent, a weekly interview series that focuses on lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender (LGBT) issues, is a half-hour show created and hosted by long-time San Francisco media professional David Perry.

For more reading on LGBT adoption and same sex parenting read the following posts:

Breaking News: California’s Gay Marriage Ban Overturned!

Sarah Bryson — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 23:46:51 +0000

The gay marriage ban in California was overturned today by Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, who ruled that the ban is “unconstitutional”. The case was brought to court by two gay couples who filed a lawsuit, saying that Prop 8 was a violation of their civil rights. Judge Walker agreed, stating that the ruling “vindicates the rights of a minority of our citizens to be treated with decency and respect and equality in our system.” Prop 8 was passed by popular-vote in November 2008 to utter shock of many other Californians who believed their rights to be protected and just five months after Supreme Court legalized gay marriage. Supporters of the ban claimed that it “was necessary to safeguard the traditional understanding of marriage and to encourage responsible childbearing.” The religious and conservative groups that sponsored Prop 8 (the most expensive political campaign on a social issue in the history of the United States) claimed that around the world there is a “common sense belief that children do best when they are raised by their own mother and father.” However, Walker ruled that the California law was a violation of specific clauses of the Constitution and that there was no sufficient rational basis for separating out same-sex couples by denying them a marriage license. Although the ruling was in favor of LGBT marriage, gay and lesbian marriage in California will not be allowed right away as the Judge is deciding whether to wait until the supporters of the ban bring their appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.