[1]NEWARK, N.J. (BP)–An agreement between the state of New Jersey and homosexual advocacy groups to permit adoptions by homosexual couples makes children into “pawns in a politically motivated strategy to redefine the American family,” according to Gary Bauer, president of the Family Research Council.
Bauer, based in Washington with the pro-family organization, wrote in a USA Today column two days after the Dec. 17 New Jersey announcement: “Common sense and an overwhelming body of social science data suggest that children raised outside of one-mother, one-father families are more likely to experience problems like drug abuse, depression, poor discipline and confused sexual identity.
“It is the state’s responsibility to provide the best possible adoptive family for each and every child in its custody,” Bauer wrote, calling the settlement “a disaster for children and families,” one that “could deny many married couples the privilege of adoption.”
The New Jersey settlement also “tells America that marriage doesn’t matter anymore,” Bauer wrote.
USA Today, in an editorial reflecting “Our View,” took an opposite stance, stating, “Nationwide, about 500,000 children are in foster care. About 100,000 are available for adoption. And about 20,000 are actually placed each year. Plainly, there is a shortage of parents. And plainly, states should do everything possible to accelerate adoption into nurturing households.”
Michael Adams, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union’s Lesbian and Gay Rights Project who represented more than 200 gay and lesbian families in a class-action suit against the state, lauded the settlement as “historic,” The New York Times reported. New Jersey becomes the first state with adoption policy stipulating that homosexual and unmarried couples are to be measured by the same standards as married couples, Adams told The Times.
Kristin Hansen, also of the Family Research Council, told The Times, the settlement “seems to have government saying for the first time that a gay environment is a good one to group up in.”
USA Today, in a news story Dec. 19, called the settlement “a milestone in the much broader campaign by gay rights groups to gain the same legal rights as heterosexual couples on a slew of familial issues, ranging from legalized marriage to domestic partnership legislation that would ensure health insurance benefits for partners.”
According to USA Today, 18 states allow homosexuals to adopt children, but not at the same time. One person can legally adopt a child, then the homosexual partner can apply for joint rights. The newspaper called the process “costly and time-consuming.”
At the forefront of the New Jersey settlement are Jon Holden, 34, legislative director for the New Jersey Foster Parent Association, and Michael Galluccio, 35. The suburban Newark homosexuals, who say they have been together 16 years, became foster parents four years ago under the New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services, USA Today reported. Their foster son, Adam, was then a three-month-old ward of the state born to a mother infected with the HIV virus, hepatitis C and tuberculosis and addicted to cocaine. The mother, who had four other children, died last September. According to USA Today, Adam has almost completely recovered from his own medical ailments and has tested negative for the HIV virus that leads to AIDS.