In wake of Moore comments, ACLU book assails restrictions on gay parenting
March 14, 2002
MONTGOMERY -- The American Civil Liberties Union will release tomorrow Too High a Price: The Case Against Restricting Gay Parenting, a 118-page paperback book that dispels the myths about gay and lesbian parenting. The book includes an introduction by Rosie O’Donnell, who will discuss gay parenting in an interview on ABC’s Primetime Thursday at 8 p.m. March 14. The release of the ACLU publication comes on the heels of Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore’s concurrence in a recent Alabama custody case that drew local and national fire for attacking gay parenting.
“There is simply no reason to prohibit gay people from being parents,” said Olivia Turner, executive director of the ACLU of Alabama. “Such a prohibition runs counter to family values, because it prevents children from getting the love, support, and guidance they need. And, it flies in the face of scientific and expert opinions that hold that gay parents are fit parents.”
The new ACLU book begins with the story of Bert, a child born with HIV who was taken in as a foster child by Steve Lofton and Roger Croteau when Bert was just 9 months old. Bert, now 10, is now in danger of losing his parents and his brothers and sisters because, in accordance with Florida law, gay people are not allowed to adopt children. Currently, the state is trying to remove Bert from his home so that he can be placed with someone who is not gay.
The book details the public policy and social science case against restricting gay parenting and supports these positions with statements from mainstream children’s groups and with the 22 most credible studies on whether children with gay parents are healthy and well adjusted. The book also lays out the legal case against such restrictions. Finally, the case debunks the rationalizations commonly offered in defense of prohibiting gay people from being parents.
“I don’t believe there’s a real debate to be had over whether gay people can be good parents — the only debate is whether to put bias before children’s future,” O’Donnell writes in her moving introduction. “This book lays out the reasons that restricting gay parenting is bad for kids and bad for all of us. It’s our job to take this information and use it.”
To that end, the ACLU is distributing this book to child welfare advocates, agencies, policy-makers and specialists whose jobs put them in a position to make decisions about whether gay people can be parents,” Turner said.
“Whether the state is banning gay parents from adopting children or preventing gay parents from visitation with their biological children, the end result is the same – children are being harmed. Children are being denied the love and support that they deserve,” Turner said.
In February, Judge Moore issued a concurrence in a unanimous decision by the state’s high court denying custody to a lesbian mother. “Although the majority opinion did not discuss the mother’s sexual orientation, Judge Moore focused solely on the mother’s homosexuality. Citing passages from the King James Bible, Judge Moore held that homosexuality is an “intolerable evil” and that gay people are not fit to be parents.
The book will be online Thursday at a special website www.LetHimStay.com.
###