We did it! (Sung to the tune of the Dora the Explorer song)

For those of you that don’t have children or for whatever reason have yet to truly experience Dora the Explorer, here’s a taste of what I’m talking about.

As for why this song leapt into my conciousness, well despite it taking 10 years, today the bill allowing same-sex couples to adopt in New South Wales has been passed in state parliament’s Lower House by the slimmest of margins, 46 votes to 44. According to ABC News, Sydney Independent MP, Clover Moore, had this to say,

“It was a recommendation of the New South Wales Law Commission and all of the recommendations were accepted a decade ago, except in relation to same sex couples,”

“I moved those amendments at the time and everyone in the parliament voted against it. Today the majority voted for it – so it’s taken ten years to get this reform.”

But we’re not there yet.

Some of the amendments now in place allow for religious groups to freely and openly discriminate against same-sex families, with one amendment still awaiting further voting. The Hon Penny Sharpe MLC warns on her facebook page:

“There is at least one amendment that is yet to be debated. The numbers could change depending on what happens with amendment/s. There will then be another vote. If passed then it will come to the Upper House where the numbers are also very tight.”

It’s not too late to let NSW Upper House members hear your voice on this issue by contacting them via phone or email. Their details can be found here.

With two out of three government-accredited adoption agencies in NSW, Anglicare and CatholicCare stating they would sooner shut down their adoption services altogether than be forced not to discriminate against same-sex families, plus the very active campaigning mentioned in previous posts, there is pressure not to pass the bill.

So this victory for equality is still sadly tarnished by the bigotry of the few, but it’s still a step closer to one rule for all. We’re almost there and it appears we’ll have yet another photo finish, an all too common sight in Australian politics of late.

Jayson D Cooke

Faith based bigotry discriminates against NSW same-sex families.

In what may be a yet proud day for Australian politics, arguably the first in quite awhile, Independent MP for Sydney, Clover Moore, is reintroducing a bill today to allow same-sex couples to adopt in the state of New South Wales. This sign of progress is shadowed however by the fact the bill now includes an amendment to allow faith-based adoption agencies to refuse to provide services to gay and lesbian couples without breaching anti-discrimination laws.

So anti-discrimination laws do not apply if the discrimination comes from a faith based group? As absurd as this may appear, sadly it seems Ms Moore may not have had much choice in the matter if she wants her bill to pass.

“While the amendments do not reflect my strong belief that there should be no exemptions in the Anti-Discrimination Act, the bill is so important to the security of families headed by same-sex couples that I cannot risk possible defeat.”

Opposition to the bill has come from two of the three government-accredited adoption agencies in NSW, Anglicare and CatholicCare, which have threatened to stop providing adoption services if they were forced to facilitate adoption by homosexual couples.

Unfortunately the pressure placed on our democratically elected representatives by minority faith groups does not end there. A letter co-authored by the Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, George Pell and the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen, was sent to NSW MPs’ urging them to vote down the now ammended bill.

The Anglican Church League website advises

“The NSW Council of Churches is sponsoring a Public Meeting of concerned citizens opposed to this bill.”

The meeting featured such guest speakers including Hon (sic) David Clarke of the Liberal Party, and Rev Hon (sic) Fred Nile of the Christian Democratic Party . Promotional material pleaded followers to attend with the message

“Please join us to make a statement of concern for the sake of the children!”

The Sydney Morning Herald tells us

“As two women knelt in the aisle to pray, Mr Clarke declared there were leaders across the Christian, Jewish and Islamic faiths who opposed the legislation.”

Reverend Nile told the rally that the bill could result in mothers being reluctant to put their babies up for adoption.

”Mothers who put up their babies for adoption believe their baby should be adopted by a married couple, a mother and a father,”

The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) has also urged NSW parliamentarians to reject the same-sex adoption bill, saying that it goes against the best interests of the children. They claim

“it goes against the best interests of the children who as a consequence will miss out on the love and role models of both a mother and a father.”

Perhaps most appalling of all this religious bigotry, is the assertion by New South Wales Upper House Liberal MP David Clarke that:

“This has nothing to do with religion. This is about morality and this is about the rights of children. That’s what it’s about.”

Clearly. If this is not a religious issue, then why are faith groups exclusively so involved in forcing public policy and debate? What then is the basis for such upset if not from a dogmatic interpretation of scripture?

The leading authorities on such issues surely are those that actually take the time to objectively and dispassionately research such issues in order to ascertain publicly verifiable evidence of potential harms to children of same sex families.

Well such research has been conducted worldwide over the years, for example The Australian Psychological Society (APS) produced a paper in 2007 which concluded:

“The research indicates that parenting practices and children’s outcomes in families parented by lesbian and gay parents are likely to be at least as favourable as those in families of heterosexual parents, despite the reality that considerable legal discrimination and inequity remain significant challenges for these families. Of particular importance, this review has provided information that can assist psychologists to take an informed approach to some of the important debates that will continue to arise in Australia, as people in same-sex parented families and others advocate the removal of the remaining discrimination in laws, public policies, and social attitudes. Like many other expert and professional bodies, the APS is committed to contributing the knowledge of psychology in the public interest, and to fostering a social environment in which all children and their families experience support, recognition, and are valued, and in which discrimination and prejudice have no place.”

The Canadian Psychological Association in a brief presented to that country’s House of Commons, stated:

“Further, the available scientific evidence indicates that children of gay and lesbian parents do not differ significantly from the children of heterosexual parents with regard to psychosocial and gender development and identity.”

The American Psychological Association (APA) have issued the following statement:

“Psychological research on relationships and couples provides no evidence to justify discrimination against same-sex couples. The working group members cited research that many gay men and lesbians both want and have committed relationships: Studies have found that between 40 and 60 percent of gay men and between 45 and 80 percent of lesbians are involved in committed relationships.”

The Peer-reviewed journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, aptly named ‘Pediatrics’ published an article titled ‘US National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study: Psychological Adjustment of 17-Year-Old Adolescents’. The article concludes

“Adolescents who have been reared in lesbian-mother families since birth demonstrate healthy psychological adjustment. These findings have implications for the clinical care of adolescents and for pediatricians who are consulted on matters that pertain to same-sex parenting.”

It should be noted that the American Psychiatric Association represents 38,000 physician leaders in mental health. They have this to say:

“Numerous studies over the last three decades consistently demonstrate that children raised by gay or lesbian parents exhibit the same level of emotional, cognitive, social, and sexual functioning as children raised by heterosexual parents. This research indicates that optimal development for children is based not on the sexual orientation of the parents, but on stable attachments to committed and nurturing adults. The research also shows that children who have two parents, regardless of the parents’ sexual orientations, do better than children with only one parent.”

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry has echoed what many other studies have suggested, namely that the greatest threat for children of same-sex families is the bigotry of ill informed members of the public:

“Although research shows that children with gay and lesbian parents are as well adjusted as children with heterosexual parents, they can face some additional challenges. Some LGBT families face discrimination in their communities and children may be teased or bullied by peers.”

My point in sharing just some of the copious amounts of quality research on this topic, is to question the Hon (sic) David Clarke’s assersion that

“This has nothing to do with religion. This is about morality and this is about the rights of children. That’s what it’s about.”

Were this truly the case, then I’d suggest to all involved to take the time to review the literature, rather than simply proselytizing, for if such self righteous bigotry comes not from scripture, then where?
Surely not from any evidentiary basis, yet Australian citizens are being discriminated against for the fallacious opinions of Mr Clarke, Mr Nile, government-accredited adoption agencies Anglicare and CatholicCare, Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, George Pell, Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen, the NSW Council of Churches and the Australian Christian Lobby, and their equally ill informed breathern.

If you would like to show your support for this bill, let your voice be heard by emailing New South Wales members of parliment. Each members email address can be found in our previous post on this topic here:
https://gussf.wordpress.com/2010/08/18/nsw-same-sex-adoption-update/

Please feel free to join me in contacting Mr Clarke via his website in order to seek clarification on how exactly this is not about his religion.

http://www.davidclarkemlc.com.au/Pages/contact.aspx

Jayson D Cooke