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01/03/09-01/05/09

Arkansas ACLU Sues Over Adoption Ban

Arkansas ACLU Sues Over Adoption Ban

More than a dozen Arkansas families filed suit Tuesday challenging the state’s law barring unmarried couples living together from becoming foster and adoptive parents.

The Arkansas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of the families in Pulaski County circuit court seeking to overturn Act 1. The ban was overwhelmingly approved by voters in November’s general election.

"Act 1 violates the state's legal duty to place the best interest of children above all else," Marie-Bernarde Miller, a Little Rock attorney in the lawsuit, told the Associated Press.

The group filed the suit on behalf of 29 adults and children from more than a dozen families. The families claim the act’s language was confusing and voters were therefore misled.

The Arkansas Family Council, a group that campaigned heavily for the ban, admitted to targeting gay couples but said it will affect both gay and straight people.

Jerry Cox, the council's president, said he had expected a lawsuit to be filed if the measure passed.

"We are confident this lawsuit will fail and Act 1 will remain on the books," Cox said.

The law does not affect any adoptions that were approved before this ban takes effect. (Advocate.com)

Reader Comments

These comments are reproduced as written by visitors to this Web site. They have not been edited for content, grammar, or spelling. The viewpoints appearing here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or views of advocate.com, The Advocate, or its affiliates.

  • Name: Steve
    Date posted: 2009-01-05 2:35 PM
    Hometown: Wichita, KS

    Comment:

    Mark from central Arkansas is so right about our part of the country. People here don't believe in reading facts. if a church leader says it's so then it's so. If the tabloids report it it must be true. And if an image appears in a potatoe chip theydeify it. Like Mark, I, too, teach and I am so jeolous I have to describe my partner as my"roommate" to my kids and their parents when everyone knows who he is but my district will not even protect me. i could go on but why bother.


  • Name: Wannetta
    Date posted: 2009-01-05 1:24 PM
    Hometown: Russellville

    Comment:

    As a gentleman stated in one of the state papers here "If God could entrust his only begotten son to an unmarried couple why can't the Arkansas Children Services Division?"


  • Name: Steve
    Date posted: 2009-01-04 1:29 AM
    Hometown: Wintersville ohio

    Comment:

    I think its time for all those that are living in fear or those that are afraid to lose control that gays only want what they already enjoy, the right to live free lives as they already do.


  • Name: Brian
    Date posted: 2009-01-03 6:23 PM
    Hometown: Anaheim, H8

    Comment:

    Mark, I enjoyed your post, you are right. There was a time I looked down on the southern states and thought; thanks i don't live in such a small minded place. I found out on Nov. 5, 2008 that I do. We are all in this together, our fight for equality. I must say that I plan on all my charitable giving in 2009 to be to the ACLU. I don't know what we would do without them.


  • Name: Carol
    Date posted: 2009-01-01 2:20 PM
    Hometown: MO

    Comment:

    Unless our government steps in and requires complete equality for every citizen in the U.S.A., it will continue with states that would rather be under Theocracy than be under the laws of the United States of America pushing everyone living in their states around to conform to their Bibical Literalist ideals.


  • Name: Bri
    Date posted: 2009-01-01 1:41 PM
    Hometown: Fort Wayne, IN

    Comment:

    This is pitiful. Despite what homophobics in Arkansas may believe, a life for a child in the state's care will be worse than a life in the homes of unmarried parents -- LGBT communitarian or not. It is disheartening to live in a country that preaches about equal rights when all we are doing is corrupting our original idea as to give everybody the same rights as the next person. Now it is becoming a duty to fight for equality, which is a shame in itself. Anyone who voted for Act 1 should open their eyes and realize what they're doing, not to the wanting and aching parents, but to the children that are now never going to know a steady home merely because the world is becoming more and more enveloped in havoc. To be honest, I'm simply disgusted.


  • Name: Ravi
    Date posted: 2009-01-01 10:54 AM
    Hometown: St Louis, MO

    Comment:

    It is beyond shocking that we are even having a discussion about this. Arkansans, what is "confusing" about taking away a minority group's right to fulfill their roles as loving parents to an abandoned child??? Tyranny of the majority strikes yet again! The Founding Fathers/Framers must be spinning in their graves as they witness the destruction of our beloved Federal Republic and its promise of liberty and justice for all. Can these people in AR not see that this "amendment" is a violation of church-State separation (using the bible to justify oppression of a group of Americans): "Hmmm, let's see, we force LGBTs to give us their military service without letting them live free, we tolerate it when lesbians get gang raped, we take away LGBT people's right to marry, now let's see what else we can take away from them". Disgusting.


  • Name: Shaneequa
    Date posted: 2008-12-31 11:03 PM
    Hometown: Raleigh, NC

    Comment:

    Wow! How long will it take for the average straight person to see that the Neocons are after anything that doesn't fit their "standards." Clearly their lies are exposed that they aren't trying to "protect" the children or the "sanctity" of anything. It's gonna keep happening until the Neocons are at your doorstop telling you how to live your life by then it'll be too late and all we of the disenfranchised LGBTQ community can do is say a sad I told you so.


  • Name: Steve
    Date posted: 2008-12-31 10:48 PM
    Hometown: San Diego

    Comment:

    I'm waiting for the day when gay people in states with bigoted laws just pick up and move. Take your tax dollars to a place where we receive equal representation and protection. Let them have their backwoods "paradises".


  • Name: Laurent
    Date posted: 2008-12-31 10:30 PM
    Hometown: Ottawa, Canada

    Comment:

    The most chilling thing about states like Arkansa and Florida is that these family value groups are not going to step up and provide loving homes for these children. The only children they are interested in are perfect babies. They are not intereseted in the children who have been molested, or may have been born to a drug addicted parent. They are definitely are not interested in children older than 3 years old. So they are saying these children should be institutionalized because they have just made it illegal for the people that usually took these damaged children, and lavished them with love and understanding can no longer do so. I hope these do gooders are happy, they didn't hurt gays or other single people, no they attacked the children and denied them the right to loving homes. Shame on them.


  • Name: Roger Burr
    Date posted: 2008-12-31 1:18 PM
    Hometown: Marble Hill, MO

    Comment:

    The saddest part in all this is that the people who will be MOST adversely impacted by this are the kids, themselves. The state needs homes for children where they will be safe, protected and cared for. It should not matter if that 'home' is with an unmarried but otherwise committed couple; gay or straight! The Arkansas voters were tricked into believing this law would prevent kids from being placed with same-sex couples and they let their bigotry dictate their votes. The loss of so many otherwise quality home environments will simply mean the kids stay in state care, at ever increasing cost to those same, stupid voters. They've sown the wind; let them reap the whirlwind.


  • Name: Mark
    Date posted: 2008-12-30 11:11 PM
    Hometown: Central Arkansas

    Comment:

    Being from Arkansas, I really am sorry you the reader must see this. In __________(insert southern/mid-western state), life is a little different from the coastal areas. I must honestly say that I wasn't surprised to see Act 1 passed. I also agree with Paul in saying that it wasn't confusing language behind the act's passing. The majority of Arkansans, like much the rest of this country, are full of ignorance, fear, and hatred. You can thank Christianity for that bundle of horrible attributes. As a public school teacher, I always must remember in the back of my mind that my job is not protected from anti-gay discrimination. Those of you living in "blue states" should wake up and realize just how nice your life is. Prop 8 was shocking, but Act 1 in AR was just another day in the reality of living in the south. Oh, and we're sorry for Huckabee. That one got away from us.


  • Name: Paul
    Date posted: 2008-12-30 5:23 PM
    Hometown: Minneapolis

    Comment:

    Confusing language? I doubt it. These people knew exactly what they were voting for. Arkansas is full of bigots; what did you expect?


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