Life in foster care is the fate of far too many foster children in this country, and the Republicans in the Tennessee legislature are determined to sentence even more foster children to that sentence. Why? It’s fear of the gay that moves them, surely. Here’s a bit from the article in the UPI:

A bill before the Republican-dominated Tennessee Legislature would ban adoptions by unwed couples — gay or straight.

Supporters of the bill say it would place more children in “traditional” families, while critics say it would leave more children lingering in the state foster care system, The Tennessean newspaper in Nashville reported Monday.

Children in foster care usually have few people waiting to adopt them, said Adam Pertman, who heads the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, a New York group that works to develop better adoption policies.

“So would it be better for these children to wait for your personal notion of the ideal family to come along,” Pertman said to The Tennessean, “or to put children who need homes into the homes of loving, responsible, stable adults who are willing to parent?”

This article in the Tennessean profiles a gay couple who adopted from the Tennessee foster care system a long time back, and now are the fathers of a fine 18 year old.

Of course, the Tennessee legislatures don’t have the fate of the children at heart. This is clearly to block gay and lesbian couples from providing these kids with good homes. The statistics do show that adoptions by single people comprise a large segment of adoptive parents in Tennessee, though it is not clear how many of those singles are gay. From the Tennessean article:

Unmarried Tennessee couples account for only 1 percent of adoptions, the most recent figures from the state’s Department of Children and Family Services and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services show.

Single individuals adopt 29 percent. Caseworkers say an unknown number begin as single adoptions and later become adoptions involving two unmarried adults. The state doesn’t ask about sexuality in the paperwork.

Hate comes in many forms. In this case the hate spewing forth from the Republican legislature is clearly aimed at gay and lesbian citiznes, since the same legislators have tried to pass unconstitutional provisions focused on gay and lesbian adoptive parents int he past. Now it is cloaked in language that (inadequately) disguises their intent. But let’s make sure to focus on who really gets punished here, foster children. More and more of those children will be sentenced to a lifetime of foster care bewcause of this provision.

Last week I had my lunch out with my adopted son Jack. We stopped at a local restaurant, and a bit after we arrived a white man entered with a three year old mixed race girl. During the course of our meal the little girl, who saw Jack’s carrier, wanted to see the baby. She looked on in awe, and was very cute. Her Dad and I discussed our adoptions, and specifically how to care for “black” hair, and I learned that theirs was a gay adotion. Man, there wasn’t anything in the world like the way that little girl clung to her Daddy with lights in her eyes. I can only hope people see the same light in my little Jack’s eyes directed at me. Why would anyone want to deny that miracle of warmth and love?

Here’s why the Republican Party earns its bad reputation for not caring for children. It isn’t just about their opposition to SCHIP funding, their antagonism towards teachers, but it is also their ugliness towards any family that doesn’t fit their narrow mold. Surely God would prefer strong parents for these children, of whatever sexual identity those parents are. But God is not here to speak, and the Republicans in Tennessee pretend to speak for Him/Her instead. Yes, this is ugly homophobia boiled down to discriminatory policy which hurts children more than any other group. As usual, the Republicans in Tennessee feel no shame for their ugly actions.