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Homophobic Attorney General Derails LGBT Adoption Rights In Virginia

04/20/11-by Bridgette P. LaVictoire
In the humble opinion of a homophobe, the State Board of Social Services would be wrong to adopt new rules regarding adoption because that would allow for same-sex couples to adopt in the state according to detractors. So, following the word of a man who has been proven to be wrong about the legality of a variety of different LGBT issues before, the State Board of Social Services voted 7 to 2 not to adopt the new rules which were first proposed by former governor Tim Kaine of Virginia, and backed by the former attorney general and current supreme court justice William C. Mims.

According to the Washington Post:

Some members of the board, including Democratic appointees who make up the 5-4 majority, had told The Washington Post on Tuesday they would be guided by advice from Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II. He said in a memo last week that the proposed new adoption rules would violate state law.

The new rules would have required that private and faith-based groups such as Catholic Charities and Jewish Family Services to allow gay parents to adopt or foster children. Of course, such a notable friend of the Catholic Church and other homophobic institutions Governor Bob McDonnell could not support this rule because he does not want to piss off the anti-gay crowd.

The Washington Post also reported:

Board chairwoman Bela Sood, who was appointed by former Democratic governors Kaine and Mark R. Warner, said that despite members’ philosophical disagreements, they had to rely on the attorney general’s views. “We have to depend on them,” she said. “They are very clear and direct.”

The proposed regulations would protect against discrimination on the basis of gender, age, religion, political beliefs, sexual orientation, disability, family status, race, color or national origin.

LGBT rights and adoption advocacy groups have been putting pressure on McDonnell and the board in order to try and get the regulations through. James Parrish, the executive director of Equality Virginia stated “No person who wants to become a parent should be forced to leave the state to do so, and no child should be denied a loving home because of such discrimination.”