Oklahoma City, Oklahoma -
Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry (D) Monday signed legislation barring adoptions by gay couples from out of state.
Same-sex Oklahoma couples were already prevented from adopting, although singles gays may become the parent of adoptive children. The new law removes a loophole that had allowed same-sex partners in states where co-adoption is legal to seek children in Oklahoma.
The legislation stemmed out of a March controversy in which the Oklahoma Health Department refused to issue a birth certificate for a child adopted by a gay couple who live in Seattle, Washington.
Lambda legal threatened to take the Department to court, but after the state Attorney General said Oklahoma's adoption code requires the state to recognize out-of-state adoption decrees involving gay couples the new birth certificate was issued.
The new law says that only one person in a gay household could be recognized as the legal parent of any child adopted in Oklahoma.
Lambda said the legislation will punish children for the sake of scoring political points.
"By it's plain language, if a couple moves from Vermont or California or Canada with a child adopted by both partners, the adoption would be unenforceable in Oklahoma by either parent," Lambda attorney Brian Chase told 365Gay.com
"The language could make orphans out of kids who have been adopted into loving homes. The law could make it difficult or impossible to register a child for school, visit a child in the hospital, or make financial plans to ensure a child will be provided for in the event of an emergency."
Chase said that Lambda is prepared to fight the law, arguing among other things the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the U.S. constitution which guarantees that "Full faith and credit shall be given in each other state to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state."
"An adoption is a final judgment by a court," said Chase, "and, under the Full Faith and Credit Clause, those adoptions must be respected by sister states. Any other system would introduce chaos into families by severing parental ties as families travel from state to state."
The sponsors of the law, Sen. James Williamson (R-Tulsa) and Rep. Susan Winchester (R-Chickasha) are also pushing for an amendment in the state Constitution to ban same-sex marriage.
©365Gay.com® 2004
Same-sex Oklahoma couples were already prevented from adopting, although singles gays may become the parent of adoptive children. The new law removes a loophole that had allowed same-sex partners in states where co-adoption is legal to seek children in Oklahoma.
The legislation stemmed out of a March controversy in which the Oklahoma Health Department refused to issue a birth certificate for a child adopted by a gay couple who live in Seattle, Washington.
Lambda legal threatened to take the Department to court, but after the state Attorney General said Oklahoma's adoption code requires the state to recognize out-of-state adoption decrees involving gay couples the new birth certificate was issued.
The new law says that only one person in a gay household could be recognized as the legal parent of any child adopted in Oklahoma.
Lambda said the legislation will punish children for the sake of scoring political points.
"By it's plain language, if a couple moves from Vermont or California or Canada with a child adopted by both partners, the adoption would be unenforceable in Oklahoma by either parent," Lambda attorney Brian Chase told 365Gay.com
"The language could make orphans out of kids who have been adopted into loving homes. The law could make it difficult or impossible to register a child for school, visit a child in the hospital, or make financial plans to ensure a child will be provided for in the event of an emergency."
Chase said that Lambda is prepared to fight the law, arguing among other things the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the U.S. constitution which guarantees that "Full faith and credit shall be given in each other state to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state."
"An adoption is a final judgment by a court," said Chase, "and, under the Full Faith and Credit Clause, those adoptions must be respected by sister states. Any other system would introduce chaos into families by severing parental ties as families travel from state to state."
The sponsors of the law, Sen. James Williamson (R-Tulsa) and Rep. Susan Winchester (R-Chickasha) are also pushing for an amendment in the state Constitution to ban same-sex marriage.
©365Gay.com® 2004
This article originally appeared on 365gay.com. Republished with permission.
