Howard To Ban Gay Couples Adopting

Local News, By Tim D, 2nd August, 2007

Not content with changing federal legislation to ban civil unions between two people of the same sex, Prime Minister John Howard is trying to introduce a new bill into parliament that bans gay couples from adopting children from overseas.

The bill, titled the Family Law (Same Sex Adoption) Bill, is slated to be introduced as early as next week. If it does become law, it means any child adopted by a gay couple overseas will not be granted a visa to enter Australia.

“For a government to deliberately set out to stigmatise same-sex couples and their children to win a few votes in the lead up to an election is beneath contempt,” said prominent advocate Rodney Croome to Fairfax. “The government clearly believes children are better off in a Chinese orphanage or on the streets of Manila than in the care of a loving same-sex couple in Australia.”

The responsibility for overseeing international adoptions currently lies with the individual states, but such a federal law would override the states by not allowing the adopted child to enter the country. In 2002, Western Australia legalised adoption by same-sex couples, followed by the ACT in 2004.

The government have already attempted to pass a similar homophobic bill in 2004, but it was blocked by Labor. Labor have so far declined to comment on whether they will be doing the same to this legislation as they say they haven’t examined it in detail yet.

In 2004, Howard made his feelings known. “I don’t support gay adoption, no,” he said. “I’m against gay adoption, just as I’m against gay marriage. I think there are certain benchmark institutions and arrangements in our society that you don’t muck around with. Children ideally should be brought up by a mother and a father who are married. That’s the ideal.”

Greens senator Kerry Nettle told Fairfax that the move was typical of the “deeply homophobic” government. “This is a disgraceful move by the Howard government to pander to homophobic and fundamentally religious interests in the lead up to an election.”

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: seriously, who voted for this government?