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Monday, September 13, 2004

Gay dads get daughters plus praise from judge - or, Why I hate straight people
Many of you may have already read accounts of this story, where two foster parents were awarded long-term custody of two young girls. Briefly put, a Florida caseworker was trying desperately to find a temporary home for a girl so violent and temperamental that she had been in 17 different foster homes in two months. The caseworker contacted a licensed foster parent who they knew (he's had over 20 foster kids in his home over the years), who agreed to take the troubled child, and then also her sister. The children did so well in such a short period of time, the caseworkers (at this point, three reviewed the case and decided this was the way to go) asked the foster parents if they'd be willing to take permanent custody. They could not offer adoption as an option, since FLORIDA IS THE ONLY STATE THAT BANS ADOPTION BY GAYS, but felt this arrangement was in the best interests of these children.

Now here's a side note. When I first read about this "victory" the other day, I do what I usually do with stories that fascinate me like this one, and GOOGLE the story to death, trying to get as much detail as possible from many different sources (many of you may know that even AP Wire stories often appear different in different papers, as they may edit out parts, change the order, etc.), and I find that local papers often offer more detail than the Gay on-line sources. But now I can't find the ONE source that mentioned this background: A straight couple learned of the 2 GAY DADS, and "alerted" Governor Bush's office, and that's when the "investigation" into this case began. So you'll have to take my word for this part (or if you find the source(s), let me know). This couple thought they were better qualified to be the parents, and the State of Florida began an investigation into whether the agency properly placed the kids with the gay couple (did they try hard enough to find the BEST place - i.e. a heterosexual married couple).

The couple that objected to this arrangement of TWO GAY DADS - what are their qualifications to be parents? You guessed it - they are STRAIGHT! They are NOT licensed by Florida to be foster parents, nor have they ever had any foster kids in their home. Meanwhile, the inferior gay dads, one is licensed, and the pair have had over 20 kids in their home, with no problems. In fact, they have done so well, that is was the caseworker who sought them out to see if they would be willing to try with these kids, including the one who had been in 17 homes in 2 months!

This is the sort of thing that makes me realize I could never be a good lawyer, a good social worker, a good judge, or any of that, because I would take this straight couple, and fuckin' strangle them! FUCK YOU YOU ARROGANT STR8 MUTHER FUCKERS! You think that because you like to put your genitals near opposite sex genitals that this makes you inheritantly good parents, and automatically superior to folks who prefer the genitals of the same gender? FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU! Your hatred of gay people is so intense that you would risk the well-being of these kids, who have finally found a place to live, and thrive; who would be permanently damaged if they were moved again???

And who's asking for SPECIAL RIGHTS? If I am born heterosexual, I am presumed to be a good parent; if I am born homosexual, I have to jump through fuckin' hoops and demonstrate SUPERIOR PARENTAL SKILLS before I would be considered an OK parent, and only as a LAST RESORT for troubled kids. And even then I risk constant court battles, harassment, emotional upheaval, and the horrible troubling thought of losing my kids. SPECIAL RIGHTS MY ASS. Gay people have to prove over and over again that we DESERVE to be treated fairly, and often have to demonstrate we are BETTER before any consideration of being treated fairly.

For a calmer view of this story, read Gay dads fight to keep custody of two sisters from July 16th, and this editorial, Character transcends ugly, crude stereotypes from July 28th.