16just aut
january 7. 2005
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A rkansas A nti -G ay
F oster C are B an O verturned
“no person may serve as a foster parent if any
adult member of that person’s household is a
homosexual,” the ACLU filed a lawsuit in state
Finding that children are not harmed hy liv-
ing with gay or lesbian parents, an Arkansas court challenging the policy on behalf of three
Arkansans:
court Dec. 29 struck down a state regulation
• William Wagner of Waldron, who works
that banned gay people and anyone living in a
in
an
optical laboratory. He has been married
household with a gay adult from being foster j
for 31 years and has two adult children.
parents. The American Civil Liberties Union
brought the lawsuit against the state in 1999 on ’ Although he is a married heterosexual, he is dis­
qualified from serving as a foster parent because
behalf of three prospective foster parents.
his gay son sometimes lives at home. Wagner
“Throughout this case, the state has relied
and his wife hope to serve as foster parents
on ugly stereotypes to deny children in the
Arkansas foster care system the chance of hav­ because they already provide emergency shelter
ing the widest possible p<x)l of foster families
to teens who have been physically abused and
available to them,” said Rita Sklar, ACLU of kicked out of their homes for being gay or les­
Arkansas executive director. “We’re very
bian and would like to he available to take care
pleased that the court saw through these argu­ of teens in the foster care system.
ments and has recognized that gay and lesbian
• Matthew Lee Howard of Little Rock, a
people can provide homes just as loving and sta­
teacher who lives with his partner, Craig
ble as anyone else’s.” .
Stoopes, a librarian. The couple have been in a
In his findings, Circuit Court Judge Timothy committed relationship for 19 years, are raising
Fox flatly rejected many of the claims the state
two children and hope to serve as foster parents.
• Anne Shelley of Fayetteville, a communi­
ty organizer for various nonprofit organizations.
She would like to serve as a foster parent hut is
prevented from doing so under Arkansas law
because she is a lesbian.
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ACLU Arkansas executive director Rita Sklar
had made about gay and lesbian people’s suit­
ability as parents. He wrote: “(Psychology pio­
neer] Jerome Bruner has suggested that one of
the reasons people believe in our system of jus­
tice may he as simple as ‘our faith that con­
frontation is a gtxxl way to get to the bottom of
things.’ The ‘confrontation’ in this case has pre­
sented us all with an excellent opportunity to
replace ignorance with knowledge and to make
an informed decision based on information as
opposed to assumption.”
Among Fox’s findings of fact:
• Being raised by gay parents doesn’t
increase the risk of psychological, behavioral or
academic problems for children.
• Children of gay and lesbian parents are just
as well-adjusted as children of straight parents.
• There is no factual basis for saying that
heterosexual parents might be better able to
guide children through adolescence than gay
parents.
• There are no reasons that health, safety or
welfare of a foster child might be negatively
affected hy living in a foster home where a gay
person is present.
• The blanket exclusion can hurt children
hy excluding a pool of effective foster parents.
“Throughout the trial we presented a variety
of experts who proved that the state’s justifica­
tions for this han were nothing but baseless
myths about gay people,” said Leslie Cooper, a
staff attorney with the ACLU’s Lesbian and
Gay Rights Project. “This is a victory not only
for gay families, hut for the many children in the
Arkansas foster care system who now have a
better shot at finding a gixxl home.”
After Arkansas’s Child Welfare Agency
Review Board established a policy in 1999 that
In a lawsuit brought hy the American Civil
Liberties Union, the Montana Supreme Court
ruled Dec. 30 that the state must provide gay
and lesbian employees of the University of
Montana System with the option of purchasing
health insurance and other employee benefits
for their domestic partners.
“This is an incredible victory for the lesbian
and gay employees of the University of Mon­
tana System who need to protect their families
just like their straight colleagues do,” said Scott
Crichton, ACLU of Montana executive direc­
tor. “The court has said that same-sex couples
who form committed relationships can no
longer he denied the same protections and ben­
efits that it affords different-sex couples.”
The court, in a 4-3 decision, ruled that the
university system’s policy of excluding gay and
lesbian employees from equal employment ben­
efits violates the state constitution’s equal pro­
tection guarantees.
In a concurring opinion, Judge James C.
Nelson wrote: “The equal protection clause
states that ‘No person’ shall he denied rhe equal
protection of the laws. The language is clear
and unambiguous. ‘No person’ means simply
that—there is no language in this clause
excepting out of this guarantee gay and les­
bians. At least our society has not come to the
position that homosexuals are not even to be
considered as persons.”
Carol Snetsinger and Nancy Siegel are two
of the plaintiffs represented hy the ACLU.
They have been in a committed relationship for
more than eight years. Snetsinger works in the
biology department at University of Montana,
Missoula, and Siegel is a physical therapist.
Because of the small size and limited purchasing
power for health care of the place where Siegel
works, she has no access to group insurance
through her employer and has been forced to
purchase private insurance that is inferior to
and much more expensive than coverage that
the married university employees are able to
purchase for their spouses.
“We are ecstatic about this decision. It’s
been a long wait, and now we’re thrilled that
gay and lesbian employees of rhe university
system will he able to insure their families,”
said Snetsinger. "1 was moved to tears when I
heard the decision. It’s an incredible way to
end this year.”
The ACLU hrixight the lawsuit in February
2002 on behalf of two lesbian couples and Pride