Countrify

Arizona's Sly and Ugly Move to Slam Gay Adoption

by Michael A. Jones 

Sometimes it can prove quite tricky to anti-gay legislators to write discrimination into state law. Take a bill currently up for debate in Arizona's Legislature, H.B. 2148, that seeks to change the state's adoption laws so that married couples receive preference over "unmarried" couples. Why is this significant?

Well, for a number of reasons. First, it presumes that just because a household has two straight parents, that they will provide a much better life for an adopted child. I'm sure there are loads of single parents -- those who have adopted children and those who raise foster kids -- who would aggressively disagree. Providing for a child should require a much more thorough litmus test than just being able to plop some names down on a marriage license.

But the semi-hidden part of this legislation is its attack on gay adoption. In Arizona, gay and lesbian couples are barred from getting legally married (thanks to a 2006 ballot measure). So this bill would not only push single straight people to the back of the adoption bus, it would also send all gays and lesbians (coupled or not) to the end of the line, too.

And that's a fact that some of the chief lawmakers behind this bill relish.

Take Sen. Jack Harper. He's a fiercely anti-gay politician in Arizona who helped orchestrate Arizona's ban on same-sex marriage. Sen. Harper even gave a rambling soliloquy on the floor of the Arizona Senate the day after President Obama's State of the Union address, where he blubbered on about how in 1988, he once knew a gay soldier, the military is not a place for homos, blah blah blah, keep "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Because an Arizona State Senator has what kind of influence on this military decision? Oh, that's right. None.

Sen. Harper has continued to peddle an anti-gay agenda. He introduced a bill to actually outright ban gay adoption in Arizona. But when that got little traction, he threw his weight behind H.B. 2148, to prioritize straight married couples over everyone else in the adoption process.

"[The legislation] accomplishes the goal that we are trying to achieve. It's hard to single out gay and lesbian couple [sic] with proper wording in statute," Sen. Harper said in a letter to Julie Reeves, an Arizona voter and a single mom who adopted her child.

Huh. So if you can't get any traction for explicitly discriminating against gay and lesbian couples in legislation, just rewrite the legislation and make the discrimination more covert. Gross.

Ron Adelson, a member of a non-profit organization in Arizona that works with adoptive parents, said that it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see this legislation for what it is -- an attempt to punish gay and lesbian parents.

"One can't help but wonder if 'single' in this context is a substitute for 'same-sex,'" Adelson told E.J. Montini with Arizona Central. "This sounds like a group of politicians trying to appease their base."

If this were the Price is Right, that sound that happens whenever someone bids exactly on the dot would go off. Why? Because Adelson nails it: this isn't about looking out for children. No, this legislation is about trying to discriminate against potential gay and lesbian parents, or appealing to a socially conservative base while sliding children under the bus.

The original author of H.B. 2148, Rep. Warde Nichols, insists that his intention is not to ban gay adoption, or make it more difficult for single people to adopt kids. But Rep. Nichols was one of the key backers of Arizona's same-sex marriage ban. He was one of the ban's more intense supporters. So when Rep. Nichols says that he doesn't want to discriminate against gay and lesbian folks with his legislation, take it with a grain of salt as big as the Louisiana Purchase.

Nonetheless, to provide Rep. Nichols his fair due, here's what he told Arizona Central: "If there were an anti-gay-adoption agenda with this bill . . . if that was my goal, it would be clearly spelled out in the bill. I wouldn't shy away."

Sure, that's throwing a bit of a gauntlet, but let's set the facts straight. Rep. Nichols bill does essentially spell out that people who are unmarried -- which includes all potential gay and lesbian parents in the state -- will be less of a priority than straight married couples in the adoption process.

Now here's the really scary part: H.B. 2148 has already passed the Arizona House. It now goes before debate in the Arizona State Senate. Where Sen. Warner is waiting for it like a dog waiting for steak.

“It's not going to say gays and lesbians can't adopt but they’re not going to be front of the line.” Sen. Harper told a local Arizona television station. "I'm not going to apologize for the way we were designed. We're not designed to pair up with people of the same sex.”

Well, there you go. Personally, I don't need an apology from Sen. Warner. He's entitled to his anti-gay beliefs if that's as developed as he'd like to be. But you know who does deserve an apology? The children in Arizona's foster care system. They're the ones who will be punished if H.B. 2148 becomes law.