Importance of Belonging and Foster Care
There are specific things that every human being is entitled to have in order to live a comfortable and fulfilling life. As such, apart from the basic rights of food, shelter, and clothing, people need to have a sense of belonging which is important for their psychological well-being. We can easily achieve this through family and friends. However, there are incidences that occur and deprive people, mostly children under the age of eighteen, the opportunity to belong to a caring family, thus ending up in foster care. Such care is often important for children who come from backgrounds that are perceived to be unfit for the nurturing of a child. The main aim of foster care is to find good families that can take in the children and eventually adopt them. Given this understanding, foster homes and agencies are constantly on the lookout for families and couples that are looking to care for children. However, there has always been an issue when it comes to same-sex couples looking to adopt or offer foster care because it becomes more difficult for them to successfully explore such opportunities.
Same-Sex Couples and Adoption
According to (Allen), the U.S. Supreme Court already made same-sex marriages legal throughout the country, but the fact that they are yet to be allowed to adopt in different States is a situation to be discussed. Since they have been allowed to marry, the same should be extended to them as far as adoption and foster care for children is concerned. Allen explains that there are over 100,000 children in the United States looking to be adopted. This number is also rapidly increasing, meaning more and more children are being placed in foster homes. In the State of Virginia, Adopt US Kids states that "5000 children are already in foster care and 1700 of these children have the goal of being adopted while 600 are ready to be adopted into families. The statistic alone should be a warning sign that there is a shortage in the number of families that have been in a position to adopt children. Therefore, by making it extremely difficult for same-sex couples to adopt, States such as Virginia are only losing out.
Discrimination against Same-Sex Couples
Same-sex couples are to be considered just like any other family, with the only thing being different is their sexual orientation. Ever since marriage within this community was made legal, anti-LGBT groups have been looking for ways to further frustrate and discriminate against them (Allen). One of the major ways such groups are doing this is by seeking out religion to ensure that the community does not get the opportunity to care for and adopt children. Allen explains that there are several legislative bills being brought forth as a measure to deter same-sex couples from adopting. Bills such as the Oklahoma SB 1140, Kansas HB 2481, and Colorado SB 241 are discriminative as they choose to portray same-sex couples as immoral and unreligious in their ways when this is far from the truth.
Impact on Children and Third Parties
Still, on the issue of legislative bills being used to deny same-sex couples the right to adopt, Lavers explains how pro-LGBT groups are addressing the issue by terming the bills as "unnecessary discrimination". When such bills are passed into law, putting a barrier for same-sex couples, what they fail to notice is that the children end up being the victims. Anti-gay groups may be seeking to win a war with the objective of punishing the LGBT community because of their sexuality, forgetting that there are third parties being affected as well. When same-sex couples are not allowed to adopt, it only means that there is a child or children who are being denied the opportunity to belong to a stable family. The sad part is that foster care is not always the best place for such children and this can impact their psychological well-being.
Ability of Same-Sex Couples to Provide a Stable Home
Despite their sexual orientation, same-sex couples can provide a stable home for foster care children, given that they are loving, caring, and can easily provide for their needs because they work just like any other person. According to Adopt US Kids, it is important to ensure that a child ends up in a home that will offer care, safety, security, love, and nurturing. In order to ascertain this, couples looking to adopt usually go through a series of tests. Consequently, adopting a child ought to be determined on the basis of the couple's ability to provide for what is required rather than their sexuality. By choosing to focus on the latter, it can only mean that several children are losing out on being part of homes that can provide for their needs.
Protecting LGBT Children in Foster Care
Lavers further emphasizes the need to allow same-sex couples to adopt or offer foster care because of LGBT children who are in foster care agencies. Children whose sexual orientation is of the same-sex relationship might be subjected to harmful situations. For instance, since Virginia, as a State currently does not allow same-sex couples to adopt, LGBT youths can be adopted into families that do not accept such relationships, making it difficult for the child to be free to explore their sexuality as they should. The problem with this is that it makes them live a life of pretense, one which they are not satisfied with, thus the possibility of having social problems. Furthermore, there is always the danger of LGBT youths being paired with anti-gay couples that can do more than psychological harm to them. By allowing same-sex couples to adopt foster children, such risks can be minimized.
Conclusion and Call to Action
In conclusion, it should be emphasized that there is nothing limiting about same-sex couples who are looking to adopt as they can easily provide for the needs of children. Such couples have proven to be just as caring and loving as heterosexual couples and should be given the same opportunities as them. Drawing up State laws that only discriminate against LGBT couples should be interpreted to show the same effect on children the most, given that it is them who miss out on well-capable adoptive families. Given the understanding that Virginia has the worst record as far as placing and releasing foster care kids into families, thus denying them prime opportunities to belong to stable homes (Lavers), it ought to serve as an example by revisiting its legislative laws to allow for same-sex couples to adopt. By doing so, the number of children who need to be adopted can easily be decreased, which is positive, especially for the children who remain to be victims in this situation.
Works Cited
AdoptUSKids. “Virginia foster care and adoption guidelines.” AdoptUSKids, 2018. Web 7 Nov 2018. https://www.adoptuskids.org/adoption-and-foster-care/how-to-adopt-and-foster/state-information/virginia
Allen, Samantha. “These States Want to Make LGBT Adoption as Hard as Possible.” Daily Beast, 24 Apr 2018. Web 7 Nov 2018. https://www.thedailybeast.com/these-states-want-to-make-lgbt-adoption-as-hard-as-possible
Lavers, Michael. “Virginia anti-gay adoption laws take effect.” Washington Blade, 18 Jul 2012. Web 7 Nov 2018. https://www.washingtonblade.com/2012/07/18/virginia-anti-gay-adoption-law-takes-effect/
