Abbigale Grant Grant 1

Dr. Cassel

English Composition II

29 April 2019

Same-Sex Adoption in the United States

The issue of same-sex adoption in the United States has been quite the

controversy as early as the nineteenth and mid-twentieth century but even after the legalization

of gay marriage and adoption in June of 2015. Despite it being legalized in all 50 states there’s

those select few states that want to make gay adoption as hard as possible.

Before going into more modern times it is important we shed a little little light on the

history of being LGBTQ+ here in the United States before it was made legal in June of 2015

after all we’ve come a long way since the nineteenth and mid-twentieth century and a lot of

things have changed since then, so it is important we shed some light on the history of being a

homosexual in the United States.

The history of homosexuality here in the United States dates back to as early as the

nineteenth and mid-twentieth century. According to the online encyclopedia for LGBTQ and

Christian life: “The concept of heterosexuality also dates from this time, as prior to it, people did

not think to identify ‘what they were,’ in terms of to whom they were sexually attracted. The

specific ways in which we now think of sexual identity or even sexual practices have changed

dramatically over time”. At the time we had this concept that heterosexuality was the “norm” and

we didn’t begin to even think to even identify anyone in terms of who they were attracted to

sexually or romantically.

Through the end of the nineteenth century and into the mid-twentieth century is when

homosexuality really started to appear. By then gay bars became the attraction of many
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American cities as stated in the cncylopedia for LGBTQ and Christian life: “Gay bars became a

fixture of many American cities, providing a gathering place for people to meet partners, engage

in otherwise frowned-upon forms of gender expression or dress, or simply interact with like-

minded people in other spaces”. These gay bars were considered a place of refuge for gays in the

1960s, for it was not a very welcoming time for LGBTQ Americans so these gay bars were

considered a safe haven for those who are LGBTQ.

According to U.S history Solicitation of homosexual relations was illegal in New York

City, and police were allowed to arrest anyone who was wearing at least three articles of non-

gender appropriate clothing or displayed any signs of “homosexual behavior” in the state of New

York. The gay bars of the 1960s were a safe haven for the LGBTQ where they could express

themselves freely and socialize without the worry of being arrested for being who they were. But

these bars could only remain a safe haven for so long until the New York State Liquor Authority

shut down the bars that were known or even suspected to serve homosexual individuals. These

regulations were eventually overturned in 1966 and LGBTQ individuals could now drink and be

served alcohol but displaying “gay behavior” in public (ex: Kissing, holding hands, and dancing

with someone of the same sex) was still strictly forbidden.

By the mid-1960s the crime syndicate known as the Genovese Crime Family controlled

most of the gay bars in Greenwitch Village because they saw profit in catering to the shunned

homosexual customers. By 1966 this major crime syndicate had purchased The Stonewall Inn

which was remodeled into a gay bar the following year and bribed New York’s Sixth Police

Precinct (police force in other words) to ignore the activities that occured within the club itself.

The Stonewall Inn eventually became one of the most important institution in Greenwitch, it

welcomed gays and drag queens and was relatively cheap to enter and became the home of many
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homeless gay youths and became one of the few or one of the only gay bars left that still allowed

dancing.

Now in modern time gay bars and clubs are now still relatively cheap to enter but there’s

no more trying to hide or keep secrets from people for as of June 2015 it is now legal for couples

of the same sex to be married, adopt and display public affection to the ones they love. But even

with the right to marry there’s those few states who still think adoption should be kept between

and man and a woman not partners of the same sex and want to make the adoption process long

and hard for LGBTQ+ Americans.

Did you know that nearly 443,000 children in the United States are in foster care and

nearly 690,000 children have spent time in U.S foster care as of 2017? According to the Lifelong

Adoptions website: “Same-sex parents in the United States are four times more likely than

different-sex parents to be raising an adopted child. Among couples with children under the age

of 18 in the home, 13% of same-sex parents have an adopted child, compared to just 3% of

different-sex parents”. Why should we keep adoption kept between a man and a woman when

there’s nearly 443,000 children waiting in foster care and same-sex couples are as much as four

times more likely to adopt than different-sex parents, it’s honestly ridiculous. We legalized the

right for LGBTQ+ Citizens to legally be married and adopt children as oof 2015 but why is it

that states like Mississippi and Nebraska are refusing to comply with the non-discrimination laws

in adoption processes. As seen in the figure below:

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Map of statewide non-discrimination protections in the United States:

Purple: States with non-discrimination protections for sexual orientation and gender

identity in adoption

Blue: States with non-discrimination protections for sexual orientation in adoption

Peach/Pink: States refusing to comply with non-discrimination in adoption

Gray: No specified policies or laws in place

In an article titled: “Same-Sex Adoption Should Not Be Tolerated for the Sake of

Encouraging Adoption” written by Andrew Haines he asks us to imagine for the sake of the

argument that gay marriage is bad: “The problem. Of course, is that they’re still a subset of the

“bad lifestyle” sort. And “bad lifestyle” (across the board) certainly translates to “unfit for child

rearing.” So although the citizens of reality would never (and could never ethically) endorse

adoption by gay couples, is it something they should be willing to tolerate? End scenario.”

(Haines). What Haines hypothetically saying is that homosexuals are unfit for raising children

and later on in his article he argues that tolerance isn’t possible where reasonable belief is

intended And the time has come to stop asking for it” (Haines). Haines argues that tolerance for
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same-sex adoption isn’t possible and he wants people to stop asking for it. Haines doesn’t list

any facts to support his hypothetical reasoning in this “what if scenario” but he makes a point at

the end of his article where he talks about the issues of gay rights and how basic-human

principles that annihilates the values of gay marraige. Although Haines is only hypothetically

speaking, his view on gay adoption could be interpreted as a very negative view by arguing that

tolerance isn’t possible for gay adoption even though it has been legalized as of 2015 in all 50

states.

Another argument most commonly used is that same-sex couples are linked to

pedophillia. In an article titled “Homosexuals should not be allowed to adopt” written by

Gregory Rogers, Rogers argues: “Careful studies show that pedophillia is far more common

among homosexuals than heterosexuals. The greater absolute number of heterosexual cases

reflects the fact that heterosexual males outnumber the homosexual males by approximately

thirty-six to one. Heterosexual child molestation cases outnumber the homosexual cases by only

eleven to one, implying that pedophillia is more than three times more common among

homosexuals” (Rogers).

But unfortunately for Rogers that is only a myth. According to the Child Molestation

Research and Prevention Institution, majority of child molestors are heterosexual men married

to women. So in Rogers’s case his argument is debunked by actual statistics and facts provided

by actual research insitutions like the Child Molesation and Research and Prevention Institution,

while Gregory Rogers fails to provide any statistical facts that show that homosexuals are more

likely to be pedophilles than heterosexuals.

He [Gregory Rogers] also argues that the homosexual argument insists on having a

single-gender gay parenting and children are more likely to become alocholics or drug addicts in
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same-sex families. What Rogers is trying to say that if you’re raised by same-sex parents your

children are going to end up becoming victims of alcohol and drug abuse but research shows that

addiction treatment programs offering specialized groups for LGBTQ+ folks showed better

outcomes.

So Rogers is forgetting about these special programs specifically for LGBTQ+ folks

suffering from drug and alcohol abuse, where the results have proven there are better outcomes

for gay and bisexual men in specialty programs for drug and alcohol abuse, so saying children in

same-sex parent households are going to end up becoming drug and alcohol addicts is blown

completely out of porportion where there are special programs that have been proven to be

effective over the years.

Of course there’s the ridiculous argument that if homosexuals are allowed to adopt they’ll

turn their own kids gay. It’s just as ridiculous as it sounds, there isn’t any statistics or scientific

evidence proving or denying this bold claim but we do know that children in same-sex families

are considered to be more open-minded about different relationships and lifestyles, in other

words children would grow up knowing that love is love regardless if you have same-sex parents

or oppposite-sex parents

People will argue that homosexuals are nothing like us, they don’t fit the “norm” but It’s

2019 now and we still struggle with the acceptance of homosexuality as a whole despite it being

legalized as of 2015 but we need to do more on how homosexuals are treated when it comes to

adopting a child they want to love and care for. When a heterosexual couple wants to adopt

there’s no trouble or backlash at all but once a homosexual couple wants to adopt everyone

suddenly has a problem and some states don’t comply with non-discrimination adoption laws so

they could straight up deny them custody. So it’s important we make sure these adoption laws
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are fair and unbiased. Same-Sex adoption is legalized thanks to the supreme court’s ruling in

2015 but there’s just those select few states that are refusing to comply with any non-

discrimination policies in place.

Some states will refuse to serve LGBTQ+ parents based soley upon what a religous

scripture says and a person is refusing to serve someone based soley upon personal relgious

beliefs then you’re stripping somone of a basic human right, if it’s been legal since 2015 why are

some states still refusing to comply with non-discrimination policies, we’re stripping people who

have all the same rights as anyone so, these discrimination policies have to go, same-sex

adoption should be made fair and equal for everyone regardless of gender, sexuality, religion,

and race.
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Works Cited

Rogers, Gregory. "Homosexuals Should Not Be Allowed to Adopt." Homosexuality,

edited by David Haugen and Susan Musser, Greenhaven Press, 2013. Opposing Viewpoints.

Opposing Viewpoints in Context,

Schlatter, Evelyn, and Robert Stienback . “10 Anti-Gay Myths Debunked.” Southern Poverty

Law Center, 27 Feb. 2011, www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2011/10-

anti-gay-myths-debunked.

National Institute on Drug Abuse. “Substance Use and SUDs in LGBT Populations.” NIDA, 5

Sept. 2017, www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/substance-use-suds-in-lgbt-populations.

“A Short History of Homosexuality.” Queer Grace, queergrace.com/history/.

Adoptions, Lifelong. “Lgbt Adoption.” LifeLong Adoptions,

www.lifelongadoptions.com/lgbt-adoption/lgbt-adoption-statistics.

Editors, History.com. “Stonewall Riots.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 31 May

2017, www.history.com/topics/gay-rights/the-stonewall-riots.

Haines, Andrew. Same-Sex Adoption Should Not Be Tolerated for the Sake of
Encouraging Adoption. Gale, Cengage Learning, 2013.
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsgov&AN=edsgcl.EJ
3010143410&site=eds-live.