Texas bars gay people from adopting

Two fathers take 8-year-old Frank, who as a toddler witnessed and may have experienced physical and sexual abuse, to visit his biological brother. Two Texas lawmakers have proposed an end to such arrangements. Warren Chisum R-Pampa and Rep. Robert Talton R-Pasadena have filed separate bills that would bar CPS from designating gays or lesbians as foster parents.

Under both bills, CPS would have to remove a child from a foster home if it uncovered homosexual activity. She noted that the boy has already lived in two foster homes and two shelters since he was taken from his biological parents. They point out that CPS already favors conventional mother-father families when it chooses foster homes.

The agency has no rule prohibiting placements with gays and lesbians. Nor does it keep statistics on how many homosexual foster and adoptive parents there are in Texas, though caseworkers may have that knowledge when they place children. A survey showed that CPS had placed 70 percent of children in homes headed by married couples.

Last year, a CPS worker in Dallas was demoted after removing a baby boy from the home of a lesbian couple. CPS officials said they demoted her because she violated agency rules in abruptly removing the child from the home.

Beto O'Rourke says that in Texas, you can be 'too gay' to adopt a foster child

George W. Chisum wants CPS to investigate whether "homosexual conduct is occurring or is likely to occur" in a potential foster or adoptive home. Homosexuals and bisexuals applying to be foster parents would be disqualified, and the agency would take children away from homosexuals and bisexuals currently serving as foster parents for CPS kids.

CPS contracts with some private adoption agencies to find homes for children in state custody, and the bills would bar private agencies from placing those kids with gays or lesbians. Chisum argues that his bill, which is similar to laws passed in Utah and New Hampshire, is designed to protect children.

He points to a report in the May issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association which found that gays and lesbians are more likely to be drug abusers than heterosexuals are. Some research suggests otherwise. About 11 percent had physical, mental or emotional problems, and roughly 42 percent were older than 5.

More than 11 percent of CPS children reach the age of 18 without being adopted. Last edited: December 06, Talton and Chisum say that children are harmed by living in homes with gays or lesbians. There are subtle, but significant, differences between the Chisum and Talton bills.

Chisum denies that there is a shortage of foster and adoptive homes.