BRITAIN: Court Rejects Catholic Bid For Exemption From Gay Adoption Laws

A British appeals tribunal has rejected the demand of the Catholic Church that they be exempted from laws banning discrimination against gay adoptive parents. As we've seen happen in several U.S. cities, church adoption officials say they'd rather close their doors and let children go without families than abide by the law.

Leeds-based Catholic Care have said they will have no choice but to end their work finding homes for children if they are forced to comply with the new equality regulations which prohibit discrimination against same-sex couples wanting to adopt. The case went to the High Court last year before being referred to the Charity Commission, who would not back Catholic Care’s position. And the Charity Commission’s stance was upheld today by a first-tier tribunal which dismissed the appeal.

Tony Perkins Defends Arizona's New Anti-Gay Adoption Regulations

But the good guy in Fox's debate does quite well.

VIRGINIA: State Board Votes 7-2 Against Allowing Gay Couples To Adopt

Following the advice of anti-gay Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, a state board has voted 7-2 against allowing gay couples to adopt.

The State Board of Social Services has voted overwhelmingly against new adoption rules that some say would allow same-sex couples to adopt in the state for the first time. In a 7-2 vote Wednesday afternoon, the board opted against the new rules, first proposed by former governor Tim Kaine. In Virginia, only married couples and single men and women, regardless of sexual orientation, can adopt. The proposed changes would require private and faith-based groups, such as Catholic Charities and Jewish Family Services, to allow gay parents to adopt or foster children.

Democrats hold a 5-4 majority on the board.

ARIZONA: Jan Brewer Vetoes Birther Bill, Approves Bill Restricting Gay Adoption

Today Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer drew the ire of fellow teabaggers when she vetoed a bill requiring presidential candidates to submit a birth certificate in order to be placed on the state ballot.

Brewer said in her veto letter that she was troubled that the bill empowered Arizona's secretary of state to judge the qualifications of all candidates when they file to run for office. "I do not support designating one person as the gatekeeper to the ballot for a candidate, which could lead to arbitrary or politically motivated decisions," said Brewer, who was secretary of state until she became governor in 2009. "In addition, I never imagined being presented with a bill that could require candidates for president of the greatest and most powerful nation on Earth to submit their 'early baptismal circumcision certificates' among other records to the Arizona secretary of state," she said. "This is a bridge too far."

Also today Brewer approved a bill requiring that married opposite-sex couples be given first preference in all adoption decisions. According to the bill's opponents, this may effectively mean the end of gay adoption in Arizona.

Senate Bill 1188, which was sponsored by Sen. Linda Gray, R-Glendale, would require an adoption agency to "give primary consideration to adoptive placement with a married man and woman." It permits the agency to consider a single person if, among other things, the child's best interests require the adoption by a single person or if a married couple is not available and the alternative is extended foster care. The bill applies to both state and private adoption agencies. Previously, only Utah has a law requiring priority for married couples, though several other states have bans on adoptions by same-sex couples or by unmarried couples.

Liberty Counsel Celebrates Court Ruling Against Gay Adoptive Parents

LOUISIANA: Federal Appeals Court Denies Gay Dads On Birth Certificate Request

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has refused to allow two gay dads to have their names placed on the Louisiana birth certificate of their adopted son. That right is automatically granted to married couples, but Louisiana does not allow unmarried couples to adopt and does not allow gay people to marry.

Chief Judge Edith Jones wrote for a nine-member majority, rejecting the men's argument that Louisiana illegally treats adoptive children of unmarried parents differently from adoptive children with married parents. "This theory is unavailing in the face of the state's rational preference for stable adoptive families, and the state's decision to have its birth certificate requirements flow from its domestic adoption law," Jones wrote. Also at issue was whether the constitutional requirement that states give "full faith and credit" to each other's laws required the inclusion of both men's names on the birth certificate of the child. That, Jones said, does not mean that Louisiana must "confer particular benefits on unmarried adoptive parents contrary to its law."

The child was born in Louisiana, but adopted in New York where both men are recognized as his parents.

ILLINOIS: GOP Sneaks Anti-Gay Adoption Provision Into Bill For The Blind

Illinois Republicans have quietly added an anti-gay adoption amendment into a bill to assist the blind. Windy City Times reports:

An amendment to a proposed bill in the Illinois Senate states that "a child welfare agency that is religiously based or owned by, operated by, or affiliated with a bona fide religious organization may decline an adoption or foster family home application … from a party to a civil union if acceptance of that application would constitute a violation of the organization's sincerely held religious beliefs." SB 1123, the bill including this amendment No. 65, means that unmarried straight or gay couples in civil unions who do not share the religious values or faith of the organization could be denied the chance to adopt or be foster parents.

The Human Rights Campaign reacts:

“With so many children in the foster care system who need a loving home, it is unfathomable that lawmakers would add an amendment to a bill limiting the number of families available to them,” said HRC Family Project Director Ellen Kahn. “Child welfare experts agree that adoptive parents should be judged by their character and their ability to raise a child, not on their sexual orientation. The fact that lawmakers tried to hide this amendment within a bill that has nothing to do with adoption suggests that even they know it’s not in the best interest of Illinois’ children.”

ARKANSAS: State Supreme Court Blocks Move To Ban Gay Adoption

Something to brighten your day:

The Arkansas Supreme Court has upheld a decision to strike down a state law barring gay couples and other unmarried people living together from serving as adoptive or foster parents. The state's high court wrote in an opinion Thursday that the law burdens the privacy of unmarried couples who live together. A state judge struck down the law last April because he said it forced unmarried couples to choose between their relationships and becoming adoptive parents.

The case had been brought by the anti-gay state attorney general, who said that adoption was not a constitutionally protected right.