This week a new bill received approval in the Virginia Legislature that would allow private and religious adoption agencies to reject gay and lesbian couples as prospective parents.
The measure—a “conscience clause” approved by the Senate Tuesday and sent to Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell, who has said he will sign it—allows agencies to deny adoptions to parents that conflict with their religious or moral beliefs, reports the AP.
Similar regulations have already been introduced by the Virginia Board of Social Services in December—this will just codify the practice into law, requiring a repeal to overturn.
Senate Democrats vehemently opposed the bill: “It’s the first step toward actually outlawing adoption by LGBT people,” says the Assembly’s only gay member, Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria). Also standing against it were the Child Welfare League of America and the ACLU.
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Victoria Cobb, head of the Family Foundation of Virginia called the vote, “a tremendous victory for religious liberty and an affirmation of the critical role faith-based organizations play in providing hope and security for thousands of children and families in Virginia.”
So, Ms. Cobb, how many of the 1,300 orphans in the state of Virginia will you be adopting?
DJ Veno
Virgina is at it again smh..
Tolly
Virginia is such an embarrassment to its residents. Why would anyone gay live there by choice?
MEJ
So, Ms. Cobb, how many of the 1,300 orphans in the state of Virginia will you be adopting?
All the healthy white newborns.
Brian
While this law is terrible, it does not actually change anything in Virginia. Sexual orientation and gender identity are not protected classes under Virginia law, so adoption agencies were already free to discriminate against single LGBT people and same-sex couples. To suggest that there are same-sex couples that previously were able to adopt children in Virginia and now cannot is disingenuous.
Empyrean
Enough with the religious exemptions! They are nothing more than special rights condoning bigotry.
I say it’s way past time to start denying Christians, or any other religious bigots, from adopting children.
There is no “war on religion” happening in this country. The right-wing fundies are just getting scared that their beliefs are being presented in the public spectrum as the bigotry that it is.
If the religious right wants to continue with this charade of “war on religion”, then it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy because people are getting very tired of them trying to impose THEIR moral beliefs on the rest of us.