Children sue to prevent gays from adopting
amy westerman, the daily texan, austin (U-WIRE)

A group of 28 orphans are so opposed to being placed with gay or lesbian couples that they are suing Child Protective Services (CPS) to prevent homosexual families from adoptiong them.

The suit stems from the demotion of CPS worker Rebecca Bledsoe, after she removed a child from the custody of a lesbian couple that was ready to adopt him.

Liberty Legal Institute, the firm representing Bledsoe, seeks to have her reinstated. The lawsuit also calls for an end to the placement of children with homosexual couples by CPS.

Kelly Shackelford, chief counsel for the Liberty Legal Institute, said the institute objects to placing a child in an environment where a crime is likely to occur continuously. Texas law classifies sodomy as a misdemeanor.

"No state agency has the authority to decide what laws they want to follow," Shackelford said.

He added that he doubted the CPS would place children in a household where small amounts of marijuana had been found.

The 28 child plaintiffs, who range from infants to 17-year-olds, do not want to be placed in gay and lesbian households, Shackelford said.

Attorneys assigned by CPS when the children became wards of the state entered into the case those children too young to make the decision on their own.

But Dianne Hardy-Garcia, executive director of the Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby of Texas, said the children have no part in the matter.

"I can't understand how involving these underage children is in their best interests," she said.

She added that she hoped the judge sees the use of the children as an opportunistic ploy.

Hardy-Garcia said the number of gay and lesbian people hoping to adopt children is small due to the current system bias and the fact that many already have children from heterosexual relationships.

But she added that those couples that choose to adopt are qualified to be parents.

"We are no better and no worse as parents than heterosexuals," Hardy-Garcia said.

The hearing was postponed in June, and now instead of a trial in open court, both sides will submit briefs to the judge who will decide the outcome based on that evidence.

Stewart Davis, agency spokesman for the Texas Department of Protection and Regulation, said each potential household for foster care is screened, must meet certain requirements and must go through training.

A potential adoptive or foster parent must be at least 21 years old, financially stable and willing to undergo a legal background check.

Davis said the CPS tries to find a family that properly fits the needs of a particular child.

He added that the CPS prefers to place children with married couples but will place them with single parent families if their needs will be met in that household.

Last year 1,916 children in Texas were waiting for adoption, and 10,818 were in foster care.

[ Back to issue 2 ]