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Kentucky Court Bans Gay Stepparents from Adopting

A recent ruling by a Kentucky Court of Appeals bans gay couples from step-parent adoption unless the stepparent and the child’s biological parent are married, effectively banning second parent adoption by same sex couples. A constitutional amendment bans gay marriage in Kentucky.

If a child cannot be adopted by his or her second parent, the child loses the right to inherit property from a parent, receive Social Security benefits, or to be eligible for health insurance under that parent’s policy, according to EdgeBoston. “This is worrisome because any public policy that denies the child of a same-sex couple of the right to have two parents does one thing and one thing only: it harms that child,” Christine Sun, Senior Staff Attorney for the ACLU’s Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Task Force told the Courier Journal.

The Human Rights Campaign called the ruling, “a striking blow to LGBT rights activists in the state, who in recent years have lost the battle against marriage equality and now face strong opposition to LGBT adoption.”

Sources:

Human Rights Campaign 9/17/08; EdgeBoston 9/16/08; Courier Journal 9/16/08

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