Subject: [big campaign] McCain Takes Radical Stance On Gay Adoption
From: "Adam Jentleson (CAPAF)" <[email-masked]>
To: "big campaign" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:44:49 -0400
List-Id: <bigcampaign.googlegroups.com>

McCain's radical stance on gay adoption has also been picked up by
Feministing
<McCain's%20radical%20stance%20on%20gay%20adoption%20has%20also%20been%2
0picked%20up%20by%20Feministing,%20HuffPo%20and%20the%20venerable%20poli
cy%20blog%20Perez%20Hilton.> , HuffPo
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/keli-goff/mccains-perez-hilton-prob_b_112
619.html>  and the venerable policy blog Perez Hilton
<http://perezhilton.com/2008-07-13-quote-of-the-day-264> .

Any help making this an issue would be much appreciated.  

-AJ

McCain Takes Radical Stance On Gay Adoption
<http://thinkprogress.org/wonkroom/2008/07/14/radical-stance-on-gay-adop
tion/> 

Our guest bloggers are Winnie Stachelberg
<http://www.americanprogress.org/aboutus/staff/StachelbergWinnie.html>
and Robert Gordon
<http://www.americanprogress.org/aboutus/staff/GordonRobert.html> .
Stachelberg is is the Senior Vice President for External Affairs at the
Center for American Progress Action Fund, and Gordon is a senior fellow.

This weekend, John McCain staked out an extreme position
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/keli-goff/mccains-perez-hilton-prob_b_112
619.html>  on "gay adoption." Here's what he said
<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/13/us/politics/13text-mccain.html?pagewa
nted=2&bl&ei=5087&en=c9a6104ee896e341&ex=1216180800> :

	Q: President Bush believes that gay couples should not be
permitted to adopt children. Do you agree with that?

	Mr. McCain: I think that we've proven that both parents are
important in the success of a family so, no I don't believe in gay
adoption.

	Q: Even if the alternative is the kid staying in an orphanage,
or not having parents.

	Mr. McCain: I encourage adoption and I encourage the
opportunities for people to adopt children I encourage the process being
less complicated so they can adopt as quickly as possible. And Cindy and
I are proud of being adoptive parents.

	Q: But your concern would be that the couple should a
traditional couple

	Mr. McCain: Yes.

McCain not only expressed his opposition to adoption by "gay couples"-as
if that weren't bad enough. He said he wants "both parents" involved and
therefore doesn't believe in "gay adoption." This approach rules out
adoption by gay individuals-even though these adoptions are permitted in
every state except Florida. In fact, it seems to rule out adoption by
single heterosexuals too.

There's a reason that nearly every child welfare organization in the
country, from the American Academy of Pediatrics
<http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/109/2/341?ijkey=
a5082159586c809125f91f2d51a76f8fe9e60e20>  to the Child Welfare League
of America <http://www.cwla.org/programs/culture/glbtqposition.htm>
opposes bans on adoption by gays and lesbians, and no state
<http://www.hrc.org/issues/parenting/adoptions/8464.htm>  has followed
Florida's lead in banning these adoptions. About 130,000 children
<http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/stats_research/afcars/trends.htm>
wait in the foster care system each year for a permanent, loving home.
And every year ,half of these children
<http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/stats_research/afcars/trends.htm>
are never placed, and 20,000 children
<http://www.fostercarealumni.org/resources/foster_care_facts_and_statist
ics.htm>  "age out" of the foster care system without ever finding a
permanent home.

Children are placed in foster care on a case-by-case basis. Every
potential parent undergoes extensive screening before a child is placed
with them. A ban on certain adoptions eliminates potential parents and
wastes child welfare agencies' time and resources implementing it-in
Texas alone, a ban would cost more than $75 million
<http://www.aclu.org/images/asset_upload_file480_27496.pdf>  over 5
years.

Does John McCain really think hundreds of thousands of children should
sit in foster care and orphanages while we wait for "Ozzie and Harriet"
families to appear? As someone who himself made the admirable decision
to adopt a child, Senator McCain surely knows better.

http://thinkprogress.org/wonkroom/2008/07/14/radical-stance-on-gay-adopt
ion/

-----
Adam Jentleson
Communications and Outreach Director
The Hyde Park Project, Center for American Progress Action Fund
202-247-8614

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