On June 26, 2015, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. As we’ve come upon the one year anniversary of this ruling, the world still finds itself in both shock and awe at this decision. For some, this law came as a monumental and long awaited win after a tough battle. For others, this was seen as an appalling mockery of the act of marriage. Unfortunately the government cannot make everyone happy. However, there is one very specific victory that the gay community also gained through the Supreme Court’s decision – the ability to better be able to adopt a child.
Most adoption agencies require that a couple looking to adopt be married in order to create a more stable environment for a child. With the June 26, 2015 Supreme Court decision, they also decided to legalize adoption by same-sex couples in all 50 states and the District of Columbia as well. This means that there are now more couples who have not only the ability to adopt, but also the desire to. Of course, there are those that will argue that a child should not be raised by a same-sex couple. That for some reason a gay or lesbian couple could never be as good of parents as a straight couple. Well, here is another argument – would those people rather a child be raised by no one? Would they rather that child be left in the foster care system? Would they rather that child not experience the love and care and joy of finding a family? There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that same-sex couples are not as good of parents as heterosexual couples. In fact, there is evidence regarding how good they are at parenting.
More than 16,000 same-sex couples are raising an estimated 22,000 adopted children in the United States. Same-sex couples in the United States are four times more likely than different-sex parents to raise an adopted child. Two million people from the gay and lesbian community have already expressed interest in adopting. Same-sex couples are also more willing to adopt from a wider range of ages and ethnicities than are different-sex couples. Same-sex couples are even reported to be more motivated and more committed to being good parents because they choose to have a child.
Some people say that a child needs both a mother and a father. A child in foster care doesn’t have either of those. Wouldn’t it be better to have two fathers or two mothers than none at all? Some people say that a child will become gay if they are raised by gay parents. Those children are more sympathetic to differences and more likely to believe in equality for all; that does not mean they will be gay. Along with that, straight parents have raised gay and lesbian sons and daughters, so does that mean they are unfit parents? Some people say that gays have unstable relationships. Adopting a child is an extremely rigorous and extensive process. It is designed to screen out those individuals who are not qualified to adopt (same-sex and different-sex), for whatever reason. In fact, the American Psychological Association stated that “not a single study has found children of gay or lesbian parents to be disadvantaged in any significant respect relative to children of heterosexual parents”.
I’m not saying that gay and lesbian couples are better at parenting their adopted child than a heterosexual couple is. The world needs both same-sex and different-sex couples to adopt. What I am saying is that gay marriage will lead to more gay couples adopting which will result in less children in foster care. That is a win-win for everyone.
The foster cares system is an organization that is doing the best it can to care for these kids, but it is far from being perfect. As of 2014, in the United States alone, there were 415,129 children in the foster care system. This is a 4 percent increase from 2012. Of that number, about 10 percent (41,513) of those children “age out” of the foster care system meaning that they were not adopted or reunited with their parents and when they turn 18, they must leave on their own. This causes further problems such as poor housing, low educational and career attainment, early parenthood, drug abuse, physical and mental health problems, and even possibly getting involved with crime. There is also the matter of the abuse and neglect that sometimes comes with being a foster child. With so many children to look after, there are moments where a child will slip through the cracks. There are those unfit foster parents who are licensed by the state who will prey on these children and foster them only to sexually, emotionally, physically, and mentally abuse them. There needs to be a bigger pool of willing applicants to adopt these children. As of June 26, 2015, there is.
To those people who believe that same-sex couples shouldn’t be allowed to adopt, then they must obviously not have the best interest of the child at heart. That is what this is all about. Helping children who are in desperate need of good homes find a family who will love them. Love is love--whether that means two gay men loving each other as significant others or two gay men loving their child as parents.
