Approximately 500,000 children in the U.S. are in foster care. Many spend more than 36 continuous months in the system. And more than 120,000 children languish in the public child welfare system—all while responsible, nurturing adults are prevented from adopting them. While many respected child health and welfare organizations support parenting by gay adults, only 37 states and the District of Columbia explicitly allow statewide joint adoptions by gay couples.
Same-sex couples are 4 times as likely to adopt and 6 times as likely to foster children than heterosexual couples. However, the 220,000 American youth being raised by gay couples are not given the same protections that are available to other children — through no fault of their own. And while there is virtually nothing a parent wouldn’t do to protect and care for their children, millions of lesbian and gay parents in this country literally cannot do all they would like to ensure the emotional and financial security of their children.
The real victims of these laws and regulations, of course, are our children. In a country with 500,000 children in foster care, there is simply no reason they should be denied the opportunity to grow up in safe, loving homes.
And there is absolutely no explaining the fact that kids with gay parents are denied the same rights as their friends with straight moms and dads.
Isn’t it time we gave a damn? Or should we continue to deliberately fail our children?
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COLAGE unites people with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer parents into a network of peers and supports them as they nurture and empower each other to be skilled, self-confident, and just leaders in our collective communities.
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Family Equality Council connects, supports, and represents the three million parents who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender in this country and their six million children.
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