Loading ...- Category:
- Soap Box
- Author:
- Phil Scott
- Posted:
- Tuesday, 19 May 2009
Last Friday I was invited to take part in a public debate about same-sex adoption rights. As luck would have it, I wasn’t available. Even so, the topic got me thinking.
A debate requires two teams of speakers, one in favour of and one against the proposition. Can a case actually be made against same-sex couples adopting children? Maybe it can.
First of all, I am not prejudiced. I have many friends who probably know and tolerate gay and lesbian people. So let’s not get all emotional, let’s just look at the plain facts.
Fact: Gay men are flighty -” some even fly for a living! They will treat a child like some new hairstyle or disco remix, then discard it and move on when they get bored.
Fact: Gays have multiple relationships, sometimes even in the same dark room. Would two gay men stay together -˜for the sake of the children’ like miserable, abusive heterosexual couples do? I doubt it. Let’s hope we never get the chance to find out.
Fact: Lesbian relationships are fraught with tension, emotional blackmail and -˜make up sex’. A child in such an environment would become stressed.
Fact: Same-sex couples are not normal. What happens when a child goes to school and discovers what normal really means? That child might get into physical fights in the schoolyard as a result. Even worse, he or she might win!
Fact: A baby is the product of a relationship between a man and a woman. The parents are responsible for bringing up the child until it turns 21 or runs away to become a drug addict, whichever happens first. Nobody else is permitted to perform this parenting task in the heterosexual world, so why should homosexuals be allowed to?
Fact: God says no.
Conclusion: A compelling case can be made against same-sex adoption-¦ if you have a head full of 40-year-old stereotypes in the manner of, say, Fred Nile, and if you entertain skewed notions of what children need and what they should be taught.
True story: My friends M and P are foster parents for two boys. The kids are brothers and would have gone to separate families if M and P hadn’t offered to take them both. When DOCS drove them away from their -˜real’ parents the boys literally didn’t look back. Alternately surly and unruly, they took some time to relax in their new home.
M and P are providing a disciplined, structured environment, reinforced with love and clear moral values. Now, a couple of years down the track, the two kids are starting to bloom. The eldest is belatedly conquering his literacy problem. There will be future issues, naturally, but the two dads are more than capable of dealing with whatever comes up.
M told me he and P felt pressure to -˜try a bit harder’ because they were a gay couple. Hey, could this be a new stereotype?
Tags: Adoption, DOCS, same-sex couples
