I am a voter living in Yorktown, Virginia.  Virginia's State Board of  Social Services are considering regulations prohibiting adoption agencies from  discriminating against adoptive parents based on gender, age, religion, political beliefs, sexual orientation, disability or family status. This past spring,the Board of Social Services bowed to pressure from the Attorney General's office and elimiinated these anti-discrimination provisions from the proposed rules.  At the present time there are over one thousand children in the Virginia foster care system waiting for permanent homes, yet well qualified parents are being turned away based on factors such as their sexual orientation. Multiple studies have shown that sexual orientation does not matter and that same sex couples are just as qualified as opposite sex couples to provide loving homes for children who are starving for loving parents. All children deserve a loving forever family. Decisions about prospective parents should be based on the best interest of the child, not on discriminatory factors unrelated to good parenting.  Children, not politics, must come first!    Stand up for our children in Virginia and pass the regulations originally proposed. Thank you.