By Amanda Iacone Virginia Statehouse News

RICHMOND — A mounting coalition is demanding that the state Board of Social Services halt the march of new adoption regulations to allow time for more public comment.

Equality Virginia, which advocates for gay, lesbian and transgender rights, has been fighting to end discrimination against perspective gay parents. Now other advocacy groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, Virginia New Majority, Virginia NOW, Rosmy and National Black Justice Coalition, have joined Equality Virginia in trying to prevent new regulations from being implemented that would offer no such protections.

“The public deserves a realistic opportunity to comment on the decision stripping discrimination protection from the rules,” said James Parrish, executive director of Equality Virginia.

The coalition provided letters from more than 25 individuals and organizations, requesting to stop the regulation approval process and trigger additional public comment. The Board of Social Services must vote on whether to allow for more public comment or continue the process, said Claire Guthrie Gastanaga, spokeswoman for Equality Virginia.

Equality Virginia is prepared to ask a judge to halt the approval process if the board votes against allowing public comment, Gastanaga said.

This past month, the board voted to send updated regulations for adoption and foster child placement along its final round of approvals. But the board removed language from the proposed rules that  prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation against perspective parents.

Parrish said removing that language was a substantial change from the original rules first proposed under former Gov. Tim Kaine’s administration almost two years ago.

Gov. Bob McDonnell had called for the discrimination policy to remain as it is today, which only prohibits discrimination based on race, color and national origin.

The board was flooded with public comments this spring from Virginians who concurred with the governor. Faith-based agencies that handle adoptions and place foster children for the state said that expanding the protected classes to include sexual orientation would go against their religious beliefs and would force them out of the child-placement business.

The Family Foundation would encourage Virginians who support faith-based adoptions to make their voices heard, if additional public comment is permitted, said Victoria Cobb, director of the Richmond-based organization, which seeks to strengthen families.

Cobb said faith-based organizations, like Catholic Charities, should not have to surrender their beliefs to partner with the state.

However, Gastanaga said the benefit of opening up Virginia adoptions to gay parents outweighs any loss of service from faith-based providers.

State law allows only married couples and single adults to adopt. The state of Virginia does not recognize gay marriages.

Because discrimination against gay marriage exists, some gay parents are told they cannot adopt. Others are told they can, but their application is never processed, and they never receive a child.
The discrimination varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, Parrish said.

Parrish said he believes a majority of Virginians support allowing gay parents to adopt. He wants the board to hear those comments.

A disproportionate number of lesbian, gay or transgendered children are in the foster care system. Some parents may not want to adopt these children, who benefit from living with a gay parent, Parrish said.

He said almost half of children in foster care are placed with three or more families in Virginia. And a third of foster children age out of the program. Parrish said this situation is due to a lack of parents ready to adopt.

“The only way to increase the number of public adoptions and reduce the number of youth in Virginia’s foster care system is to remove all the remaining barriers to find qualified, loving and stable parents who can provided permanent homes to these children,” he said. “Discrimination against the children themselves or against their perspective parents is one of those barriers.”