COLAGE Applauds Defeat of Anti-Gay Adoption and Foster Care Bill

COLAGE is thrilled by the decision of the Arkansas House Judiciary Committee today to reject SB 959, a bill that would have banned gay people and most unmarried heterosexual couples who live together from adopting or serving as foster parents.

"Not only was SB 959 unconstitutional, but it was also simply a vicious attack on our families," said Meredith Fenton, COLAGE Program Director. "The defeat of this bill is a victory for COLAGErs and our families against hatred and ignorance."

Scores of people crowded into the House Judiciary Committee meeting at the Arkansas State Capital to observe this morning's hearing.

If passed, the bill would have categorically banned lesbian and gay Arkansans from adopting or serving as foster parents, even if they are relatives of the children in question. It would also have banned unmarried heterosexual couples who live together unless they're related to the child, which would prevent godparents or family friends from caring for a child if the parents die or can't keep the child.

Arkansas's Child Welfare Agency Review Board had established a policy in 1999 that banned gay people from serving as foster parents, and the Arkansas Supreme Court struck it down last year after a seven-year legal battle between the state and the ACLU. Several prominent child welfare groups took an interest in the case, with friend-of-the-court briefs being submitted by Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, the Child Welfare League of America, the National Association of Social Workers and its Arkansas chapter, the American Psychological Association and its Arkansas chapter, and the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute.

In overturning the earlier ban, the Arkansas Supreme Court wrote, "(T)he driving force behind adoption of the regulation was not to promote the health, safety, and welfare of foster children, but rather based upon the Board's view of morality and its bias against homosexuals."

COLAGE applauds the leadership of the ACLU in this important victory! For more information about this and other cases in Arkansas, please visit the ACLU of Arkansas.