Well what a shocker! Despite the fact that there is a huge backlog of children waiting for foster homes and to be adopted in Texas, like in lots of other states, there is an attempt to legislatively ban gay or lesbians from being foster parents in Texas.
Just last December, a similar ban on gay and lesbian foster parents was struck down by a judge as unconstitutional in neighboring Arkansas. Currently, Utah, Florida and Mississppi have statutory bans on adoptions by gay or lesbian couples. In January 2004, Florida's statute survived a federal constitutional challenge by the ACLU.
Apparently, this proposed law in Texas was a last minute amendment as part of an overall privatization of the Child Protective Services agency being enacted by the Texas State legislature and championed by nearly-outed Texas Governor Rick Perry. State Representative Robert Talton who authored the amendment has been trying to ban gay foster care for two years.
This is a rare instance of a move away from the general trend of pro-gay legislation being passed at the state level recently. Another example is what happened in the Montana State Legislature on Monday when it killed any bill which could remotely be construed to provide a benefit to gay and lesbian citizens of the state.
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