You do realize that none of the Justices were child psychologists when Feber was decided, right? Or do they only need to be when they are discussing gay people and their families?
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Did they have child psychologists testify? Remember, the judges don't present argument. They preside over it. I imagine they consulted some child psychologists on the question of "should an adult's constitutional right to circulate child pornography be dominant to what's best for children" (the essence of New York vs Ferber). But if there were no child psychologists present, are you asserting that it was a matter of common sense that children exploited for child pornography should not be, even when it is an adult's constitutional right to free speech? If that's the case, I suppose we could deduce that it is also a matter of common sense that boys stripped of fathers for life or girls stripped of mothers for life (the mechanics of gay marriage) is also bad for children.
In any event, I will welcome the professional argument that the Justices may then use to render a Decision. And I'm sure you would welcome that too, since you pretend to be all about children's well being. Notice: I'm not afraid of the professional discussion...but you seem to be all about advocating that it not happen at all....which in itself is telling...
I have to express my profound disgust and dismay at the way this thread has deteriorated in a vile swill of hatred and lies about gay and lesbian people and their fitness as parents. The people who are responsible for this have no shame and will stop at nothing, however bizarre and hateful, to thwart the advancement of gay rights and have
no qualms about using children as pawn in their failed fight against equality. Some of you are knowingly lying, while others have whipped themselves into a delusional frenzy. Either way, it is equally despicable because anyone who believes the bovine excrement that has been bandied about here had to have hatred in their hearts to begin with, and have seized on the lies that have been spoon fed to them to validate their bigotry. I will not be wasting my time and energy by responding further. Feel free to wallow in your ignorance and hatred until your ******* heads explode.
I sincerely believe that gay and lesbian people make fine parents, and that the children who are in their care suffer when the parents are discriminated against and not allowed to marry.
This belief is not only based on a review of credible and peer reviewed literature, but also my personal, professional experience working in a child welfare agency where I not only investigated child abuse-including sexual abuse, but placed children into foster and adoptive homes. And, some of those foster and adoptive parents were gay.
Gay people have been a valuable resource and have taken in older and hard to place children with a good deal of success. My state of New Jersey was the first to allow joint adoption by gay couples some 28 years ago. Most states now allow adoption by gays. The only problems that are cited are anecdotal accounts of occasional abuse or a child who is unhappy about not having a mom and a dad, or propaganda from right wing hate groups.
Let me remind you people that children who are placed for adoption have NO PARENTS, and, regardless of what they want or need, and regardless of whether we allow same sex marriage, there will always be children who do not have a mother and a father. No one has been able to refute that fact . The only thing that they have is lies and myths to promote fear about gay people and gay parenting, not out of any real concern for the children but to advance their bigoted religious and political agenda. Progressive Patriot 2/25/14
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While anyone can find anecdotal evidence or cite studies and come up with statistics that supports the view that children are harmed by having gay parents, I can speak from personal experience. I worked in a state run child welfare agency for 26 years. I had many jobs during that time including child protective services investigator, protective services supervisor, foster care unit supervisor, and foster and adoptive parent trainer.
The state in question, New Jersey, has been placing children with gay foster and adoptive parents for decades, long before same sex marriage was even being discussed. During my career, I was involved in some manner or other with thousands of cases of child abuse, including sexual abuse, physical abuse neglect as well is families that were generally dysfunctional due to substance abuse or mental health issues. I was responsible for removing children from some of those homes when it was determined that the risk was too great not to do so, or if the parents could not be rehabilitated.
In all that time I never came across a gay person who was the perpetrator of child abuse of any kind. Granted, they are few in number compared to heterosexual couples and single parents, but we are talking about a span of more than two and a half decades. In addition, I personally placed children with gay and lesbian couples and individuals after they were damaged by their straight parents. Those gay people provided loving and nurturing homes and gave those kids the best shot in life possible. And no, there were not enough straight people to care for those kids, but if there were I would have still have placed them with the gay folks if the match was right.
Never once did I have a problem with a gay foster of adoptive parent. Never once did any of them reject a child because they were not of the “correct” sexual orientation, but some straight people did in fact reject gay kids. During my time there and beyond I followed those families and I can tell you that those children have grown and thrived and overcame the bad hand that they were dealt by their straight parents, largely due to the nurturing offered and sacrifices made by the gay families who took them in.
In addition, when we talk about gay adoption, most often we are referring to situations where the child in question is the biological child of gay person and that persons partner wishes to adopt as a second parent. The benefits of having two legal parents are clear. There are an estimated 2 million children in the care of gay people. That will not change by banning adoption. It will only put those children at a disadvantage, socially, financially and legally.
In conclusion, opposition to gay adoption is just ignorant and hateful equine excrement. To say that you care about the children while opposing adoption by gays is hypocrisy at it’s very worst. Progressive Patriot 6.6.15
**** you very much!