Bigots Beware

An article in today's Northwest Arkansas edition of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette features Eva Mae Ross, a Vietnamese 2-year old who was adopted from an orphanage and now is undergoing surgeries for repair of cleft lip and palate. Her adoptive parents are Dr. Robin Ross and Anne Shelley, both of whom have been active in promoting social justice in our area for years.

Jerry Cox, president of the Arkansas Family Council, affiliated with Rev. James Dobson's Focus on the Family, doesn't think that Ross and Shelley should have been allowed to adopt a child. He was pushing a bill by State Senator Shawn Womack (R-Mountain Home) in the Arkansas legislature to ban adoption by same sex couples. The bill passed in the Senate but was killed in the House Judiciary Committee. Now Cox is working with an out-of-state conservative Christian legal outfit to advance such bigotry by drafting an initiated act for the 2008 general election ballot, a move also anticipated to increase the chances of Republican candidates who will endorse the measure. Vickey Boozman of Rogers is on the Board of the Arkansas Family Council, as is Robin Lundstrum, who just chaired the Washington County Republican Committee dinner featuring Karl Rove.

On the other hand, all of the evidence suggests that Ross and Shelley will be excellent adoptive parents. A report from the Williams Institute at UCLA Law School released in March documented that research shows LGB parents are as capable as any other parents, and "in fact, studies show that these parents tend to have a higher percentage of qualities that are highly desirable. On average, LGB adoptive parents and same-sex couples raising foster children are older and more educated than other foster parents. In addition, many LGB adoptive parents have access to more economic resources than other adoptive parents."

Consequently, a number of organizations have adopted official positions "stating that sexual orientation should not be a determinative factor in assessing the ability of individuals to raise children through adoption [or] foster care." These groups include the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the National Association of Social Workers, the Child Welfare League of America, and the American Psychological Association, among others.

Congratulations to Robin Ross, Anne Shelley, and Eva Mae Ross on their new family. As for Jerry Cox and his associated bigots, don't further embarrass yourself by bringing that narrow-minded, hateful partisan bullshit into the political arena.