Gay adoption

The UK is bringing in anti-discrimination legislation - which basically means that you can't treat gay people any differently than straight people. On the face of it, that sounds ok to me. I certainly don't want the government that I support through my taxes to discriminate against anyone.

Oh wait, the law applies to everyone... private businesses, individuals, churches, synagogues and mosques. And we know how much churches, synagogues and mosques want to hire or serve gay folks (as a general rule).

One of the examples raised by Christian evangelicals of how damaging this would be is the Christian couple forced to lodge a gay couple in their Bed and Breakfast (which are run out of private homes). Now, I do have sympathy with the idea that you should be able to choose who comes into your home, but you've made it a place of business... Personally, I would be devastated if any gay friend of mine and his/her partner were turned away from a B&B, say after having made a reservation, just for being gay. I would be horrified and disgusted and hurt on their behalf.

Another area of the law is gay adoption. Christian and Jewish adoption agencies will no longer be able to turn gay couples away from applying through their agencies (in the past when this happened, gay couples were referred on to agencies who would place children with gay couples). This is causing a furore - or as described in the UK press - a gay adoption row.

I'm not sure how I feel exactly about gay adoption. Personally, I don't think that anyone has a right to adopt a child. I don't think any adult has this right, because adoption ought to be about the best interests of the child. But I don't think that gay couples should be forbidden from doing so just because they are gay. However, with two equally suitable couples - I would tend to prefer the married heterosexual couple to the married homosexual couple (technically civil partnerships in the UK) - just because I think it would make for an easier life. But I would also tend to prefer the married homosexual couple to the unmarried heterosexual couple - all else being equal. (I simply cannot understand why a couple seeking to adopt would not get married to demonstrate the stability of their relationship. And since they apparently can't be bothered to do that, I'd worry about what else they might not be bothered about.)

The Catholic adoption agencies are asking for an exemption to the law. I have mixed feelings about this. If you can't discriminate between people in terms of adoption - I don't know when you can. For example, it's still widely accepted in this country that black children are better off with black families. And a Catholic adoption agency - to my mind - ought to be seeking to place children with Catholic families who seek to follow the precepts of the Catholic church. So does that mean that they should discriminate against me and the Vol-in-Law, say - a couple of deeply lapsed Protestants? Yes. Yes, they should. It seems to me that a Catholic adoption agency should always prefer a Catholic couple to us - if we seem equally suitable. And let's face it - there are far more couples seeking to adopt healthy young kids than there are healthy young children to adopt. They will always be able to turn up a Catholic couple who are at least as suitable as raising children as we are.

And if a Catholic adoption agency should be able to turn us away - a stable, well-educated, married heterosexual couple - then they ought to be able to turn away gay couples who by living together in a homosexual relationships are clearly violating the precepts of the Catholic church.

On the other hand, it sounds like these religious adoption agencies are not functioning as separate bodies, but as an extension of the state. The Catholic church merely provides an administrative function of Government. There are many such arrangements between the faith and voluntary sectors in the UK. This makes their position demanding an exemption weak - very weak. The Catholic church is now threatening to remove themselves from the adoption agency market. Perhaps that's the best solution, if they can't operate as a private adoption agency seeking to be an agency where Catholic birth mothers can place children with the assurance that they will end up with Catholic families.