skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Marriage Equality Advances; LGBT Adoption – Not So Much

play audio
Play

Friday, July 19, 2013   

PHOENIX – Two U.S. Supreme Court rulings have advanced the cause of marriage equality, and 12 states now allow same-sex marriage.

But what about LGBT couples and individuals who want to adopt children?

Ellen Kahn, director of Human Rights Campaign Family Project, says that too has opened up some, but she says much more needs to be done.

"If you call and say, 'I'm a gay man. My partner and I are interested in adopting,'” she explains, “there are still places that will say, 'No, thank you,' and hang up the phone."

She says even in the most conservative states there are pathways to LGBT adoption, and work on expanding it continues in legislatures and courts.

Kahn says she believes a corner has been turned and as marriage equality spreads, adoption will correspondingly become easier.

Becky Fawcett is co-founder of HelpUsAdopt.org, which raises money and offers grants to help people with the enormous costs of adoption. A non-discriminatory policy has been a cornerstone of the group’s work, but it hasn't always been popular.

"We do have some donors who leave because of our stance on what a family is,” Fawcett says. “And I have lost prospective board members for our stance. And I have received hate mail because of our stance."

She says around 15 to 20 percent of her group's grants have gone to LGBT adopters, but she wishes more would apply.

Ellen Kahn sees hesitancy, too.

"A lot of LGBT folks and same-sex couples who want to adopt are afraid to take that first step,” she says, “because, you know, there is a fear that 'We're going to be scrutinized differently than other folks,' or that 'We're going to just be met with a no.'"

Kahn believes the momentum in the state-by-state move toward marriage equality can only make things better regarding adoption.





get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021