Gay, bisexual and transgenr foster parents and adopters step forward | Social Care Network | The Guardian

Contents:

• GAY ADOPTN: WHAT ARE MY OPTNS?
• RSIA ENACTS ANTI-GAY ADOPTN BAN
• GAY, BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENR FOSTER PARENTS AND ADOPTERS STEP FORWARD
• KEY DAT FOR LBIAN, GAY, BI AND TRANS EQUALY

GAY ADOPTN: WHAT ARE MY OPTNS?

Speakg durg the parliamentary bate the Hoe of Lords, Barons O’Catha said: "By extendg the tegory of would-be adopters to clu homosexual upl of both genrs and habg heterosexuals, I ntend that the Bill is now beg ed as an stment of social engeerg... And Cardal Murphy-O'Connor, head of the Catholic Church England and Wal, wrote to Cabet misters sayg Catholic adoptn agenci "would not be able to rec and nsir homosexual upl as potential adoptive parents. He says: ‘I thk there is a perceptn for some the LGBTQ+ muny that is gog to be harr for them bee they are gay/bi/trans etc and I don’t believe that is the se.

‘The send one, and this has been the only isolated se we’ve experienced of homophobia, is that one girl our youngt son’s class at school told him that her mum said she uldn’t be his iend anymore bee he had ‘gay dads’. ‘I thk is also important to not only thk about yourselv as beg part of the LGBTQ+ adoptn muny but jt beg part of the wir adopter muny – our kids particular aren’t bothered about spendg all their time wh “other two dad fai jt like them” – they’re ls worried about havg gay dads and more ncerned wh jt g to terms wh the stigma of “beg adopted”.

RSIA ENACTS ANTI-GAY ADOPTN BAN

Image source, Getty ImagIt's 50 years sce the partial crimalisatn of homosexual sex England and Wal.

Approval fell the 1980s when the Aids crisis and the troductn of sectn 28 - a law prohibg the promotn or teachg of homosexualy schools - uld have swayed public opn acrdg to NatCen, the thk tank which ns the a steady and rapid rise om the early 1990s reflects a wir trend of social liberalisatn, somethg also seen changg attus to pre-maral sex. Approval of pre-maral sex grew ially among the young - as they got olr they retaed that belief, and soon both old and young were more liberal on the same-sex relatnships the shift attu has been quicker - not only did young people wh liberal views get olr, but olr people changed their mds, might part be bee chang the law, such as the legalisatn of civil partnerships and then gay marriage, have a powerful fluence on people's views, a NatCen spokman suggts.

GAY, BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENR FOSTER PARENTS AND ADOPTERS STEP FORWARD

There have been a number of other key dat on the journey towards sexual and genr equaly, not jt for gay men but for the rt of the LGBT muny. For example, gay sex remaed illegal Stland and Northern Ireland until 1982 while transgenr people weren't protected equaly legislatn until 2010. 1967 - Sex between two men over 21 and " private" is crimalised1980 - Decrimalisatn Stland1982 - Decrimalisatn Northern Ireland1994 - The age of nsent for two male partners is lowered to 182000 - The ban on gay and bisexual people servg the armed forc is lifted; the age of nsent is equalised for same- and oppose-sex partners at 162002 - Same-sex upl are given equal rights when to adoptn2003 - Gross cency is removed as an offence2004 - A law allowg civil partnerships is passed2007 - Discrimatn on the basis of sexual orientatn is banned2010 - Genr reassignment is add as a protected characteristic equaly legislatn2014 - Gay marriage be legal England, Wal and Stland3.

KEY DAT FOR LBIAN, GAY, BI AND TRANS EQUALY

Crimalisatn of gay people ntued to this centuryIn 1967, homosexualy was only partially crimalised. Those keen to crimalise any public displays of nsensual homosexual activy still had tools to do so through the offence of "gross cency", which had a broad terpretatn. Prosecutns were far more mon until the 1990s but have tailed off sce, partly bee of social attus to gay relatnships, says Kate Goold, a solicor at Bdmans.

Government has attempted to redrs this legacyGiven this legacy of crimalisatn, the ernment troduced a scheme October 2012 allowg those prosecuted unr funct gay-sex-related laws, to have their nvictns removed om police and urt Home Office timat that there were about 50, 000 such offenc rerd on the system om the 1950s until of the 50, 000, only an timated 16, 000 are for people who are still livg and so able to all of the 16, 000 offenc are eligible to be "disregard". Rerdg of homophobic hate crim has risenA steep rise homophobic hate crim has been rerd over the past five years, but this is thought to be large part down to an crease people reportg cints rather than a genue rise crime.