UPDATE: Ill. introduces anti-gay adoption legislation

[William769]

Update: The bill was just voted down 7-6 in a state senate committee and it is now dead.

“This is a huge victory for the LGBTQ community and families across Illinois,” said Anthony Martinez, Executive Director of the Civil Rights Agenda. “This is also a huge win for the tens of thousands of children that are in the adoption and foster system and need loving families.”

***

An Illinois state legislator has thrown anti-gay adoption language into a bill that reaffirms public accessibility for the disabled and establishes county clerk charges, including civil union legislation fees.

The new legislation would exempt religious adoption agencies from providing services to gay parents.

http://www.365gay.com/news/ill-introduces-anti-gay-adoption-legislation/

[Drale]

1. I doubt that bill would have come anywhere near passing

[William769]

2. The vote was 7-6.

[Drale]

3. Yeah but how is that committee stacked?

[William769]

4. That I don't know.

[mucifer]

5. Another IL DUer here ... this has no chance of passing. nt

[Creideiki]

6. I'm actually okay with exempting religious adoption agencies from providing services to gay parents,

provided, of course, that those agencies are prohibited from receiving public funds to support their missionary work, because that's what it's becoming.

[Unvanguard]

7. You shouldn't be okay with it even under that condition.

Adoption agencies serve a public, state-licensed function, and they do it by being open broadly to applicants from the public. They are not like churches, whose primary purpose is to serve those religiously affiliated with them. To permit adoption agencies to discriminate in this way is to permit them to put their bigoted religious dogma ahead of the welfare of the children whose interests they are supposed to be serving; that is unacceptable.

[Creideiki]

8. We support Planned Parenthood, should be supporting ACORN

and other charitable institutions. A charitable institution that can separate its religious views from the needs of society can be a vehicle for social good. The problem is when the charitable institutions cannot--granted almost every instance I can think of is religiously motivated (e.g. Salvation Army), but we still support the Red Cross and Boy Scouts despite them being nominally non-denominational.

If the adoption agency can serve the public, state-licensed function without discriminating, then I'm okay. I just don't know many that can. They instinctively draw people with religious biases for employment and then we're surprised that they're discriminating.

[beyurslf]

9. Why would I want to go to some bigotted religious group that hates me

just to adopt when there are plenty of other organizations around I can go to?