Asshats on the move in Texas

[emmagrant01]

Texas state representative Warren Chisum is at it again. From Equality Texas's web site:

As the new chair of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, State Representative Warren Chisum (R – Pampa) laid the groundwork for creating a "preference system" for foster care placement. Chisum stated he "favors tweaking state law to give heterosexuals preferred status as foster parents over gay parents." [...] He believes that a foster child’s welfare is better served by placement with a married husband and wife over any other parental structure.

Despite the fact that there is no evidence that this is true. And this isn't just about gay parents -- it would also affect single parents and unmarried straight couples who foster children. The idea that one's sexual orientation and marital status would be the first thing the state would consider when placing a foster child with a family is beyond ridiculous. In Texas, there are many kinds of families that welcome foster children into their homes. To claim that one kind of family is better than another on the sole basis of one's religious beliefs, ignoring all research to the contrary, is not only stupid -- it puts children at real risk.

Shame on you, Representative Chisum. You'll be getting a letter from me.

Comments

[celandineb.livejournal.com]

Yeah, because a married couple in which the husband is abusive of his wife is totally going to be a better role model and better for a child's welfare than a single parent, an unmarried straight couple, or a loving gay couple would be. What an ass.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Right, exactly. It's ridiculous.

[boy-named-susie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's some major bullshit. Last year about 10 state representatives in the Ohio General Assembly introduced a bill that would have banned gays, bisexuals, or transgenders from adopting or serving as foster parents. Luckily, even as conservative as Ohio is, there was a very quick and swift outcry against it and it died pretty much as soon as it was introduced.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I wish I could believe it would be perceived that way here, but the state legislature is a scary place. :-P

[belleweather.livejournal.com]

Because obviously the state of Texas is so overflowing with foster parents that they can afford to alientate all the ones that aren't married, heterosexual couples. Yeah, right.

What an asshat. *Parents*, foster or adoptive, best serve a foster child's welfare. He should be out recruiting and encouragine people to take on fostering children in need, not bombasting families for not being good enough. Shame on him indeed.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Yes, absolutely. From what I understand, there's already a system in place to ensure that foster families are capable of providing safe and loving homes for foster kids. And I don't understand how it would be possible to give "preference" to certain kinds of families without deciding that some children are more "valuable" than others, you know?

[ashkitty.livejournal.com]

This always makes me SO FUCKING ANGRY. God.

But ryanashke explained (and lived) why, so much better than me, here, so I'll just link that.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Thanks for that link. :-)

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

It has to be fear, I agree. I know these people aren't stupid; in fact they're quite savvy to be able to get to the positions they're in. And in a warped way, they really believe they're doing the right thing, despite all evidence to contrary. And when you can't reason with someone, what are you left with?

[littleroo27.livejournal.com]

I'm sure my very single boss and her nine year old newly adopted foster son would disagree with this! A lot of those kids have had very bad experiences with their married parents and may be much more comfortable without a man or a woman in their family, depending on what landed them in foster care in the first place. What a jerk.

[sirius-my-luv.livejournal.com]

these kids need homes and parent(s) to love them, not bigoted assholes making it harder for them to have a family *whacks those asshats on the head*. do they honestly think that unmarried, single or gay ppl cant take care of children. aaaarrrrggggg!!!! not only are they discriminating against people, they're hurting these children. They NEED LOVING homes. this kind of stuff just pisses me off.

[luci0logy.livejournal.com]

TWAT!

[meredyth-13.livejournal.com]

somebody should do some percentages on his arse, like the percentage of kids NEEDing foster care that COME from a home with a married, het husband and wife v's others.

As I said last night in a moment of wisdom - Family is a state of mind.

(of course, I was referring to the Bill about marriage = procreation, cause I went on to say - marriage is a social convention, and neither is defined by procreation)

[unchaste-one.livejournal.com]

Ugh! We have the worst state govt! I would say call over a letter, because they give calls higher preferences, or so I have been told.

At this rate there will be no homes for the massive amount of foster children in this state. :(

[allika.livejournal.com]

God, which district elected that dickhead? How disgusting. People like that make me want to hate the world. As a Texan myself, it makes me even more mad, because one of MY representatives is so incredibly closed minded. Living in the liberal Austin bubble, its so easy to forget that the conservatives are running the world.
And that is so unfair to single people who want to provide foster care, such as widows and widowers. But most of all, it's unfair to the children who need good homes.

[jedirita.livejournal.com]

Goddammit. Fucking bastard. Way to put ideology ahead of the actual needs of children. Let him come to my house and see how poorly my foster son is doing.

[jedirita.livejournal.com]

Okay, now that I've had a moment to calm down and the brain could start functioning again, I am able to recall that this kind of legislation has been introduced in Texas before, and so far it has always been defeated. Which is not to say that there's no way it will pass this time, but just to let you know that the Lege has been resisting this kind of law for at least ten years that I know of.

Also, I've been on the Texas Adoption Resource Exchange website, and often there are kids where it will say, "This child would do better in a home with no men present." You can imagine what's behind a statement like that. At any rate, some children do not do well in a home with a man and a woman.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I was absolutely thinking of you when I first saw this item!

And yeah, I've heard of this same thing off and on for a while now, but I'm never sure if each of those little initiatives is separate or not. But still, it's scary to think that the Legislature might give in at some point. :-P

Are you going to one of the demonstrations in March? I'd like to go to the Austin one, but if you're going to the SA one, I might come down if I can. It would be an excuse to see the Padawan again anyway. :-)

[jedirita.livejournal.com]

Which demonstrations? I saw that there is going to be a lobby day in early March in Austin.