Scotland: Homosexual couples given right to adopt children

The Telegraph (U.K.) ^ | June 11, 2005 | Auslan Cramb

[Stoat]

Homosexual couples given right to adopt children

By Auslan Cramb
(Filed: 11/06/2005)

Same-sex couples are to be allowed to adopt children under a radical overhaul of adoption laws in Scotland.

In the first major change to the laws governing adoption for 25 years, unmarried couples, including gay couples, will be able to adopt jointly.

At present, only married or single people can adopt and although homosexual or unmarried couples can currently raise children, only one can be recognised as the legal parent.

The Scottish Executive set up a review group to look at the issue four years ago, and backed the "overwhelming majority" of its recommendations, which were published yesterday.

Those wanting to adopt will have to prove they are in an "enduring family relationship".

Euan Robson, the deputy education minister, said unmarried couples could "to all intents and purposes" adopt at present, as both partners were assessed together, although only one could legally apply and would be registered as a single parent.

He said: "This confusing legal position needed to be addressed. Any couple being assessed as adopters would undergo a rigorous examination of their relationship to make sure it provides stability for the child, and to explore in depth their parenting abilities.

"This would ensure that only couples that can provide a secure home to a child would be allowed to adopt."

The laws have already been changed south of the border, but the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, Cardinal Keith O'Brien said said the move was "contrary to the common good" and could "cause harm to children".

He said homosexual relationships were "notoriously fragile and unstable" and that the small number of gay couples living together undermined claims that the move could increase the number of potential adoptive parents.

"Sadly, demands for parental rights for homosexual partners are more to do with fulfilling their wish for status rather than meeting needs of children," he said.

"It is the view of the Catholic Church that to place children in such a situation is to put them in an environment that is not conducive to their full human development.

"This is gravely immoral and in open contradiction to the principle, recognised in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, that the best interests of the child, as the weaker and more vulnerable party, are to be the paramount consideration in every case."

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, the Tory education spokesman, said there was evidence to show that a child's best interests were served by living with a married couple.

"This is not a question of gay rights, but solely the interests of each child," he said.

"The immediate priority is to extend the number of married couples who can adopt and by tackling prejudice on the grounds of age or race, to allow more to do so."

The number of adoptions in Scotland has fallen from about 1,000 a year 20 years ago to around 400 a year now. Last year, there were nearly 3,500 children in foster care, with 600 in need of immediate adoption.

[beaversmom]

ping

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

PETER: "Ach, Seamus, me boon friend and companion! Now we can finally enjoy the god-given right to be taken home and mercilessly sodomized within inches of our wee, helpless lives -- legally! PRAISE the courts, me fine laddy-buck!"

SEAMUS: "[EXPLETIVE DELETED]."

[TheDon]

How sad for the kids.

[little jeremiah]

Homosexual Agenda Ping.

Poor kids in Scotland. "Gay" rights trump common sense, traditional moral absolutes, rational thought, scientific evidence, research on outcomes, and every other conceivable means of using judgement.

Good for the Catholic authorities for speaking out for the truth.

Let me know if you want on/off this pinglist.

[Stoat]

Pray for the children....may God protect them, because Scotland apparently will not.

[tpk-qhcf]

>>> "Gay" rights trump common sense, traditional moral absolutes, rational thought, scientific evidence, research on outcomes, and every other conceivable means of using judgement.

I agree on the common sense bit and obviously it's against traditional moral absolutes. But could you point me towards the scientific evidence, or longitudinal studies on children of gay parents?

Thanks,
tpk.

[little jeremiah]

Check these articles which were just posted today, and if you read down the threads, you will find links with all the information you have time to read. It's all there.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1420619/posts
Root Causes, Homosexual Consequences

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1420072/posts
Expert: Many Promote Homosexual Parenting With Poor Reasons, Faulty Premise

[FranklySpeaking]

Sounds like a good ruling.

Carry on..........

[little jeremiah]

If you think homosexuals should adopt children, you might want to broaden your horizons by clicking the links in my post above. Lots of information about why men become homosexual, and the damage done to children when they are raised by homosexuals.

[Canard]

This seems more of a clarification than an anything that will actualy change the practical situation. It may well be the case that being raised by a hetrosexual married couple is the ideal situation for every child (although it's by no means an absolute), but that is not an option available. Seems to me that being raised in by two people in a stable homosexual relationship is a better option than being raised in a childrens home.

[little jeremiah]

Please read the links in comment 10 above, and then see if you hold the same opinion.

Those who study the subject without pro-homosexual bias come to the opposite conclusion.

[Stellar Dendrite]

Hey TPK,

WELCOME TO FREE REPUBLIC!!

[little jeremiah]

I noticed the recent signup date, and the comment above is his/her only one on FR so far.

Anyway, to give the benefit of the doubt, tpk - let us all know your POV when you read the articles and associated links.

[tpk-qhcf]

"Rejecting the assumption that no differences exist, Wolfe says the two researchers investigated and went on to conclude that children of homosexual parents are more likely to be depressed and more likely to display homosexual tendencies as they mature."

--

Yes, these are my first posts here. Let's judge on content, not whatever assumptions you have about "newbies", please.

All I'm asking for is a little scientific evidence on children raised in the style of "Jimmy has Two Daddies". I told you my POV -- my intuition is that same sex couples raising children are somehow inadequate, but I want this to be affirmed by research. I don't want to let my strong morals taint what should be a scientific argument.

It seems to me that as often as children turn out as their parents do, they turn exactly opposite. The rebellious drive for diversity seems not to care about much else but to be different, no?

I wish that the studies had been linked from that article, too. I am trained in quantitative reasoning and it is my profession. But journalists often misconstrue such research, grossly so. So all I'm saying is: let's look at the evidence. Where is it?

Thanks,
tpk-qhcf.

[Americanexpat]

Since homosexuals can't procreate and raise more little homosexuals our courts and politicians have now made it easier for them to raise children to to carry on their lifestyles.

[stocksthatgoup]

Guess messing around underneath their Kilts didn't provide sufficient offspring.

[Bon mots]

I don't like the way homos rear their kids.

[expatguy]

The children suffer as decent people do nothing except talk about it.

Sometimes I think that we will all be called upon one day and asked why we did not do anything to stop this insanity.

An American Expat in Southeast Asia

[scripter]

You should read the links lj provided for you. In each link there are numerous other links of great importance.