I am a voter living in Virginia and I believe all children deserve a loving, forever family. Currently, there are more than 1,000 children waiting to be adopted in Virginia. And, unfortunately, many of those children are being denied an opportunity to join loving families due to discrimination against prospective adoptive parents based solely on gender, age, religion, political beliefs, sexual orientation, disability, or family status. Decisions about prospective parents should be based on the best interest of the child, not on discriminatory factors unrelated to good parenting. Additionally, when agencies act in the stead of the state, they should be bound by principals of non-discrimination even if they are private agencies.
