In the structure of a homosexual "family", that right of the child is methodically and deliberately denied. This is a fundamental violation of the rights of a child. The last 40 years of research have consistently shown that mothers and fathers each make a distinct and indispensible contribution to the healthy development of the child. In a homosexual "family" these benefits of proper development are deliberately withheld from the child. If the child is taught, however, that a homosexual "family" is a complete, albeit alternative type of family, this setting prevents the child from mourning the loss of the real father or mother. The loss remains split off and this will have a destructive impact on the psychosocial development of the child.

Civilized societies do not discriminate on grounds of race, creed, gender or sexuality, yet the denial of equal rights to gay couples is clear discrimination. Gay and heterosexual couples deserve the same legal rights to adopt. Anything less is pure inequality based on homophobia. That is absurd.

The cases reflect a growing tension in the United States between civil rights advocates opposing discrimination and religious groups seeking the right to operate according to their spiritual beliefs. A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services, which funded the refugee foster care program through a grant to the U. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the Department did not comment on pending litigation.

Battling the 'homosexual agenda,' the hard-line religious right has made a series of incendiary claims. But they're just not true. Ever since born-again singer and orange juice pitchwoman Anita Bryant helped kick off the contemporary anti-gay movement some 40 years ago, hard-line elements of the religious right have been searching for ways to demonize gay people — or, at a minimum, to find arguments that will prevent their normalization in society. For the former Florida beauty queen and her Save Our Children group, it was the alleged plans of gay men and lesbians to "recruit" in schools that provided the fodder for their crusade. But in addition to hawking that myth, the legions of anti-gay activists who followed have added a panoply of others, ranging from the extremely doubtful claim that sexual orientation is a choice, to unalloyed lies like the claims that gay men molest children far more than heterosexuals or that hate crime laws will lead to the legalization of bestiality and necrophilia.