[echaos]

I recently came across some articles that I would like to share with everyone.

Do you think that laws changing in other countries will have any impact on the US's outlook?

(Amsterdam, The Netherlands) — According to the justice minister of The Netherlands, the Dutch government will push forward with efforts to make adoption easier for same-sex couples.

Just four years after The Netherlands became the first country to legalize gay marriage, Justice Minister Hein Donner said he will introduce draft legislation later this year that would allow gay couples to adopt children from abroad. He said he will also work on legislation that would allow a woman’s lesbian partner to adopt her child at birth.

The Dutch government passed laws in 2000 that allow gay couples to marry and adopt children in The Netherlands, but laws still ban foreign adoption and gay couples must live together a minimum of three years before adoption rights of a partner’s child will be granted.

Gay rights groups around the world are heralding this announcement as a huge step forward in the push toward equal rights. Following in The Netherlands footsteps, several other European countries, including the predominantly Catholic Spain, are making pushes toward same-sex marriage and adoption legislation in 2005.

Data published last month by the Dutch press showed that gay marriages were as stable as heterosexual marriages, with and mere 63 couples of the 5 751 who tied that knot between 2001 and 2003 divorcing.

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Andy, The fact is, we could learn a lot from the Dutch; however, European policy has rarely influenced American policy or what Americans find acceptable. Prostitution has never been illegal in Holland, and since 1988, it has been a legitimate and regulated profession requiring licensure. Physician assisted suicide has been practiced for decades, but has had an official "code of conduct" and regulations for physicians to consult and complete since 1984. Since 1976, The Netherlands has had a specific non enforcement drug policy that separates "hard" drugs such as amphetamines and heroin from "soft" drugs such as marijuana.

It is not my intention to lump adoption by GLBT persons with activity that is illegal in the United States but to point out that what they see as normal, expected and socially appropriate behavior is quite different than what many Americans deem acceptable. I hope that adoption by same sex couples is made more simple by permitting both parents to adopt simultaneously rather than forcing one to do so immediately and the other at a later date. I hope that GLBT singles are evaluated consistently and uniformly, like all prospective adoptive parents, on their ability to parent rather than on their sexuality. I am embarrassed to be from the state of Texas that on April 19th, approved Amendment 60 by the House with a 81-58 vote to ban GLB persons from adopting and fostering in the state of Texas. As if state case workers do not have thousands of valid investigations, they are now encouraged to probe into the sexuality of prospective adoptive persons. It is a travesty.