To the State Board of Social Services,

I am writing to encourage you to end the state-sanctioned discrimination against gay citizens allowed by tax-funded adoption agencies.  If a person is a law-abiding citizen who pays taxes, they ought to have the same legal protection under the law as any other person.  Because of this I hope you consider the following:

1.   The best interests of the child should be the sole factor in deciding whether a child should be placed with a prospective foster care or adoptive parent or parents.

2.    State-licensed child placing agencies should not be allowed to discriminate against children or prospective parents based on race, national origin, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, political beliefs, sexual orientation, disability and family status.

3.    The State Board of Social Services should restore to the final rules the protections against such discrimination included in the proposed rules.

I thank you for your time in this matter.

Sincerely,

Matthew D. Simpson