MCCAIN’S ANTI-GAY ADOPTION STANCE SLATED

Activists have slated US Presidential candidate John McCain’s comments that he is against adoption by same-sex couples.

The Republican nominee told the New York Times that he remains opposed to gay and lesbian adoption and suggested that he is also opposed to single-parent adoption.

In the interview, published on Sunday, July 13, McCain, who is himself a foster parent with his wife Cindy, said, “I think that we’ve proven that both parents are important in the success of a family so, no I don’t believe in gay adoption.”

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the US’ largest gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender civil rights organisation, slammed his position in a media statement.

“McCain’s comments on adoption show a disturbing disregard for the reality that thousands of children and youth face – the possibility of never having a permanent, loving home,” said Ellen Kahn, from the HRC Foundation’s Family Project.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, “A growing body of scientific literature demonstrates that children who grow up with one or two gay and/or lesbian parents fare as well in emotional, cognitive, social, and sexual functioning as do children whose parents are heterosexual.”

The AAP has also noted that, “Overall, there are more similarities than differences in the parenting styles and attitudes of gay and non-gay” parents. Children raised by same-sex couples “seem to develop normally in every way,” the group has reported.

“In a country where more than 125,000 children are waiting for foster parents, Senator McCain would deny loving homes to children who desperately need them simply because of an outdated prejudice about what a family may look like,” said Jody M. Huckaby from Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG).

“Senator McCain’s position is out of synch with the research and science and out of step with what is in the best interests of children waiting for a home and a family,” Huckaby said.