Essay on the Issue of LGBT Adoption

LGBT adoption relates to issues concerning the right to adopt a child by individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (Davis 2013). The argument by people opposing LGBT relations that same-sex couples lack the ability to effectively parent has been the main reason as to why LGBT adoption has not been accepted in most places around the world. Currently, the joint adoption by LGBT couples has been legalized by only 26 nations globally.

The LGBT community has for a long time been advocating for the legalization of LGBT adoption. The efforts they employed has enabled them to initiate various changes that have directly impacted on the present progress relating to the law that authorizes the LGBT adoption. Some of the memorable historical events that are revenant to LGBT adoption are such as the 1978 acknowledgment of LGBT right to adopt. In that year New York became the first state in America to declare that citizens of the state would not be denied the right to apply for adoption because they were gay. In 1979 the Family Equality Council was formed. According to Brodzinsky & Pertman (2011), the council was established by the members of the Gay Fathers Coalition to advocate for the rights of LGBT such as the right to adopt children. In the same year, a gay couple from Californian became the first gay in the United States couple to jointly adopt a child.

In the year 1982, The Sperm Bank of California (TSBC) also decided to serve lesbian couples and single women. The Sperm Bank of California was initiated in the 5th October of the same year. The facilities 1982 decision made it the first sperm bank to provide legal and medically safe fertility and family building services to all women regardless of their sexual orientation and marital status (Rupp & Freeman 2014). In 1985 the first ruling in support of a non-biological mother adopting the biological child of her female partner was made. The ruling was made in an Alaska court and was also in support of the biological father maintenance of a close relationship with the child. The 1997 New Jersey same-sex couples adaptation policy. In 17th December of the year, New Jersey became the first state to allow LGBT couples to adopt children under the state's custody jointly. The decision by the state was reached in settlement of the lawsuit raised by a group of LGBT community.

The 28th September 2009 presidential proclamation by President Obama was the first acknowledgment of same-sex parenting by a president of the United States. In the announcement on Family Day, the president stated that children rose by relatives, single parents, both parents, same-sex couples, or guardians should be encouraged to do their best. The 2011 updating of the United States passport application in acknowledgment of LGBT parents, the nation's passport parental section was changed from indicating mother and father to indicating mother or parent 1 and father or parent 2. According to Montero (2014), this change indicates that LGBT parenting was becoming accepted in the United States. In 2012 President Obama declared his support for marriage equality. The president in his explanation as to why he supports same-sex marriage and parenting stated that since his daughters have friends with same-sex parents, the parents of their friends should be treated equally to those with heterosexual parents.

In conclusion, the lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender are all humans like any other individual despite their difference in sexual orientation. Their rights concerning issues such as adoption and marriage should thus not be infringed by any one.

References

Brodzinsky, D. M., & Pertman, A. (2011). Adoption by lesbians and gay men: A new dimension in family diversity. Oxford University Press.

Davis, M. A. (2013). Demographics of gay and lesbian adoption and family policies. In International handbook on the demography of sexuality (pp. 383-401). Springer Netherlands.

Montero, D. M. (2014). America's Progress in Achieving the Legalization of Same-Gender Adoption: Analysis of Public Opinion, 1994 to 2012. Social work, 59(4), 321-328.

Rupp, L. J., & Freeman, S. K. (2014). Understanding and teaching US lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender history. University of Wisconsin Pres.