Non-Discrimination trumps SOME religious objections!
Not ALL faiths/religions have objection to adoptions/fostering by same sex individuals or families. To allow civil laws/procedures to influenced by a small but vocal minority of the religious community would be wrong, if not a clear violation of the US 1st Amendment. There are, in fact, many mainstream religious denominations that fully support same sex adoption and marriage.
Study after study as proven that children placed in a home with same sex parents do as well as, if not better, than children in opposite sex couples. There is NO scientific basis for denying placement in these homes.
Placement in ANY home with 2 loving parents should be preferable to intitutionalization by the system, be in it a group home or in foster care, jumped from home to home over who knows how many years. A loving, stable home is what counts.
Slipper slope arguments about gay men being pedophiles are complete bunk. Gay men are no more likely, and possibly less likely, to abuse children than a straight man.
The religious preferences and desires of the birth parents have NO RELEVANCE! Once they give up their parental rights, THEY DON'T MATTER! It's up to the State/Agency to find a proper home for the child. This is yet another slippery slope argument designed to mislead the masses.
If religious adoption agencies want to place children under faith-based rules, then let them - as long as they do so using zero government money. If they accept a single dollar of government (e.g., taxpayer) money, then they need to abide by all the rules set by the government - period. If they don't like it, then they don't need to be in the business of (what basically amounts to) selling children for profit at taxpayer expense. See the results of this issue in Mass., where Catholic Charities fought the same issue. They lost, stopped providing services - end result is that adoption numbers in that state are UP since they got out of the business.
Ultimately this is a non-issue, raised by people who would drive a wedge through the people on a prickly social issue. Forget your politics and do what is right for the children.
