It's Time for a Change!

IT’S TIME FOR CHANGE!
In a statement sent to the Family Equality Council, Barack Obama assured the LGBT community that he supports adoption rights for same sex couples. Obama believes in equal adoption rights for heterosexuals as well as LGBT people. It may have taken us 44 presidents to get this far, but this can be a potentially giant leap for the LGBT community. Sadly, the president does not regulate adoption rights, but having one that does support LGBT adoption is a giant step! Thankfully, things have been changing in America, and organizations are being created to support and fight for LGBT adoption. Organizations such as COLAGE (Children of Lesbian And Gay Couples Everywhere) offer success stories of LGBT adoptions, and their website is getting more and more hits every day. If more people could understand that children of a LGBT couples are no more likely to become LGBT than children raised with a traditional mother and a father, maybe this wouldn’t be such a big issue we’re facing today. How is it fair that hundreds of thousands of children are in the foster care system waiting for loving parents to come along and adopt them, and there are perfectly suitable (LGBT) adults out there eager to adopt them, yet they are not allowed. It’s counterintuitive if you ask me. People argue that children adopted by a member of the LGBT community may suffer adversity, but who doesn’t have difficulty in their life, and whose to say that it won’t make these children stronger, open minded individuals. How can we deny children parents, leaving them in the foster system for countless years, all for this fear that they may turn out LGBT like their potential guardians? It’s a completely unfair statement to be said. Celebrity Rosie O’Donnell and her partner Kelli Carpenter have adopted four children, and together have made a successful family life for themselves. Together, they’ve created a LGBT friendly cruise, which HBO did a documentary on. There was a segment where they asked the children how they felt about being raised in a LGBT family, and although each child had a different response, they all had the same message, that that was their family, that was what they knew and loved, and they wouldn’t change any of it. I can only hope that more and more events such as this cruise will be created, to show people that LGBT families are no different than heterosexual families, and there is a greater need for equality in LGBT adoption. If you don’t believe me, educate yourself. Talk to a young adult who was raised in a LGBT family. You might be surprised at how quickly your view on LGBT adoption has changed!