Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Saturday told the audience at a right-wing presidential forum in Iowa that same-sex couples are barred from adopting children in Texas, according to On Top Magazine.
But Perry’s statement was at best misleading and, at worst, an outright lie designed to pander to socially conservative voters.
At the Thanksgiving Family Forum in Des Moines, Perry and other presidential candidates were asked what they would do to help faith-based adoption agencies “which are being run out of business because they will only place children in homes headed by mothers and fathers and they will not place those children in homes headed by same-sex couples.”
Perry responded: “Obviously I think it is an issue you can address at the federal level, and passing a federal marriage amendment is one of the ways to do that, but until that does pass, as in the state of Texas, a gay couple cannot adopt a child in the state of Texas, so the states have the ability again, until there is a federal marriage amendment that clearly states that marriage is between one man and one woman and in that as well you cannot adopt a child unless it is one man and one woman.”
Chuck Smith, deputy director of Equality Texas, said in most jurisdictions in Texas, it’s true that gay couples can’t adopt “as a couple” due to the state’s defense of marriage act. However, in most jurisdictions, gay couples can adopt the a child separately, which is effectively the same thing, Smith said.
Unlike in states such as Utah and, until recently, Florida, Texas has no ban on gay adoption, Smith said. And, a non-biological mother who is the lesbian partner of a biological mother can typically obtain a second-parent adoption in Texas, Smith said.
“It’s not black and white,” he said. “It’s factually inaccurate to say there’s a ban on gay people adopting. It is a function of which family law judge people go to, but in virtually all jurisdictions, gay couples can adopt. Unfortunately they’re required to do it in two separate transactions, where each individual person has an adoption transaction. It’s also true that under the current statute, the supplemental birth certificate of an adopted child only has one parent’s name on it if the parents are of the same gender. That’s something we’ve been trying to change and will continue to try and change.”
Smith said while Texas legislators unsuccessfully attempted to ban gay foster-parenting in 2005, there has never been a bill to ban gay adoption.
“I think it was an attempt at a bravado comment — ‘In Texas, we don’t let the gays do anything’ — that was kind of the point,” Smith said, adding he thinks the entire forum was “an exercise in pandering” for all the candidates.
“What they’re attempting to do is to make something controversial that’s only controversial in their little mind-sphere,” Smith said. “There’s over 30 years of longitudinal studies that show sexual orientation is not a determining factor in whether a person is or is not a good parent. They’re trying to say that gay people can’t be good parents. There simply is not evidence to speak to that.”
Watch video of Perry’s response below.
The douchbag lied, who is surprised? Someone needs to use their “First Amendment” rights and rid the earth of him once and for all.
Isn’t being a redneck liar with a two-bit Texas education a requirement for governor of the third most backward state in the union? Remember that Alabama and Arizona are neck and neck in the race for most bigoted backwoods cesspool, so you stay classy Lone Star State.
Phil you sound so pathetic. You are probabley a supporter of Hussein Obama? Can you imagine Obama running against Perry?? Because they both will run on their record. Obama with disastrous record or no record at all, vs Gov. Rick Perry, a giant successful third term governor of a great state, with 13th biggest economy in the world, who has military, governing and legislative experience .
Oh, Phil, you’re forgetting about Ann Richards! We did it right back then. And had Perry not been able to get away with refusing to debate in the gubernatorial elections the way he hasn’t been able to in the national elections, we might have been able to do it right this time, too. I’m doing my best. : )
And Nancy (who can’t even capitalize her own name) sounds like one of the paid trolls that haunt the web, because no one else would be that kind to the joke that is Perry.
not all adoptees sail thru
https://all-about-orphans.blogspot.com
I don’t care for Rick Perry at all, but Scott your post “Someone needs to use their “First Amendment” rights and rid the earth of him once and for all.” is ridiculous.
Back to Rick Perry…Right now he is saying what he thinks it takes to get the nomination as all canidates are doing. After that , the nominee will say what he/she thinks it takes to win the election. Too bad the Democrats do pretty much the same thing. I am hoping Obama will let Biden go and give us a Obama/Hillary Clinton ticket!
God spoke to me and told me not to vote for Dick Perry.
As a gay person in Texas who with my partner, adopted two sons a year ago, I say Perry is full of crap and doesn’t even know our state’s laws. What a joke and what an embarrasment!