Australian Territory Set To Vote On Gay Adoption
September 06, 2010
Gay Adoption is this week taking centre stage at the New South Wales Parliament this week, with a decision in favour of the LGBT community expected to right a long standing wrong in this progressive country.
The Adoption Amendment Bill is to be debated when the NSW Parliament is in sitting again, to redefine ‘de facto partner’, ‘spouse’, ‘couple’ and ‘step parent’, which could ultimately result in the door opening for gays and lesbians to adopt.
The Bill, as introduced by Clover Moore aims to remove discrimination against same-sex couples in adoption law. The Bill furthers the best interests of children by permitting same-sex couples eligibility to adopt. Prospective parents should be assessed on objective criteria, not on their sexual orientation.
The Bill has passed the Legislative Assembly, and in order to become law, it must be passed by the Legislative Council.
In NSW, lesbians and gay men can apply to adopt children as individuals, but not as a same-sex couple. This is because the definition of a 'couple' in the Adoption Act 2000 (NSW) only recognises married and opposite-sex de facto couples.
In 2008, the NSW Parliament passed important laws to recognise children born to lesbian couples through assisted conception procedures. Whilst these important parentage laws covered most children in same-sex families, some children were not covered.
Children in same-sex foster families, and some children with same-sex step parents and co-parents need adoption to ensure they also have equal rights and protection under the law. For these children, adoption will ensure their parents and families are also legally recognised and that they can have a birth certificate which reflects their family structure.
Anglicare, a religious group, however oppose the proposed gay adoption changes, alleging there is a ‘homosexual agenda’ to ‘claim’ children from mothers and fathers and placing them with gay couples.
Ironically enough, the Western Australian Anglicare chief Ian Carter however did not oppose gay foster parents as it is not permanent. Carter said: “We need to ensure that there is no discrimination on the grounds of issues to do with ethnicity or religion or race or sexuality.”
Image author: Michiel van Drunen
