Opinion
Ban on gay adoption a ‘gay’ move
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Also by Sean Kittridge:
- Newspapers due for change in mindset (January 27, 2010)
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It’s not easy to be a homosexual these days. Maybe it’s never been easy, although they say those ancient Greeks really knew how to throw a party. But if there’s one group of people who can’t catch a break these days, it’s the gays.
Neither presidential candidate supported their desire to get married,
The Unmarried Couple Adoption Ban states that, in order to adopt or become foster parents, prospective couples must be engaged in a “valid marriage.” But “valid marriage” is an oxymoron. Wayne Campbell once told Garth that marriage was “punishment for shoplifting in some countries.” The only thing valid or authentic about your parents’ relationship is the spousal hatred. And while many in the country truly believe in protecting the sanctity of marriage, can they say the same about the purity of adoption? There are too many kids who need a stable parenting presence in their lives in this country, and by limiting adoption to valid marriages, we’re damaging children, not protecting the country’s moral fiber.
This ban is a mess. Its overarching problem is the thinly veiled anti-gay rhetoric, but an almost bigger setback is its blind approval of “traditional” parenting. Britney Spears was straight and married, yet it didn’t stop her from being an epic failure as a mother — and a pop singer. There are plenty of people not actively involved in a “traditional” marriage, whether it’s due to divorce or personal choice, who serve as excellent parents. To prove my point, I give you two families:
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, in almost every film, have a non-existent mother. Instead, their ruggedly good-looking and independently wealthy father raises them. They do well in school, love their dad and are so ambitious they ultimately find him a new wife through billboard advertising. Despite not being raised in a “valid marriage,” they grow to be good people — in the movie.
Kevin McCallister has a mother, a father and a brother with a tarantula. He lives in a nice suburb of
Adoption is not simply a smart alternative to parenting without stretch marks. It can take years and costs thousands of dollars to adopt a child, and the emotional price is often greater than the monetary one. People adopt because they love children, and because there are no shortage of children who are in need of a better life. No one fills out all that paperwork to undermine society, and yet some feel that’s exactly what will happen if we allow homosexuals to raise kids.
Parenting, whether it’s by adoption, foster care or nine months of pregnancy, follows a single goal: to raise good children and help give them a bright future. It has nothing to do with sexual orientation, and there is no evidence to suggest gay parents will raise an army of gay children. Straight parents seem to raise plenty of homosexual kids as it is, yet no one is condemning Dick Cheney’s fatherhood. These are not issues of family or children; these are issues of civil rights and fear, and they’re issues many thought ended in the 1960s.
An adopted friend of mine had the best take on the matter. Not a political person, when asked about the ban, he said, “Well that’s pretty gay.” He’s right. It’s totally “gay.” And I’m against it.
Sean Kittridge (kittridge@wisc.edu) is a junior majoring in journalism.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminologyofhomosexuality#Currentlyprescribedusage
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Sorry, but a theory based on children’s movies and pop stars doesn’t exactly sway my opinion.
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If they have gay adoption, then the next thing they’ll have are sheep raising our orphans. It’s a slippery slope.
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what’s with this headline? not cool
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sorry, i don’t have the attention span to read your article. but “Kevin McCallister” caught my eye so I read that paragraph and it made my day. Home Alone forever!
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If I had gay/lesbian parents I’d have to bathe every day, keep my room clean, do my homework, take out the garbage, walk the dog and go to college.
On the other hand, if I didn’t have gay/lesbian parents I’d…well…probably be over in Iraq getting shot at and wishing I had gay/lesbian parents so all I’d have to worry about is bathing every day, keeping my room clean, doing my homework, taking out the garbage, walking the dog and going to college.
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Sean, you proclaimed your stupidity to Madison through your last paragraph by using the word “gay” as a means of hatred toward a law against homosexuals (ohhh the irony).
People like you deserve to be shoved in a cannon and shot to outer space.
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Im glad I had a mom and a dad. I think everyone should have a mom and a dad.
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“Parenting, whether it’s by adoption, foster care or nine months of pregnancy, follows a single goal: to raise good children and help give them a bright future.” Parenting after pregnancy is frequently a mistake; parenting by adoption is nearly always fully evaluated done with best intentions. I fear what my children’s middle school text books will say about gay rights of today - but with that, I’m also optimistic the issue will have diffused by then.
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The name of this article should have been:
Inbreeding in Arkansas Breeds Intolerance
p.s. wasn’t Buss Kevin’s cousin?
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No coherent structure, point changes from the beginning to end, attempting to use pop culture references to sway audience…and the sad part is you’re in J School
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Thank you for bringing this topic up, because it is one of huge importance. However, despite my love for wayne and garth, they have no place in a legitimate argument concerning gay marriage. I think you could have used some pretty available statistics on the divorce rate, which as of now pertains to almost exclusively heterosexual couples, as evidence rather than than a quote from two disillusioned rock stars. By using fictional movies as your evidence your readers will take the article as seriously as “the academy” considered those movies for best picture
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Ya, don’t attempt to speak about a civil rights issue if you’re going to use a term pejoratively to describe that group of people.
This is crap.
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The question is this: an orphan raised in a orphanage with no specific person caring about them. no one to be their role model. no hope. or an orphan raised by two individuals that want nothing but to care for and raise a child the best that they can.
none or two. what does it matter the gender of the two when the other option is a child alone.
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Why does the BH continue to publish these ridiculously immature and illogical articles by Kittridge??? Are you guys seriously that hard up for material? Really? You don’t have to answer for Kittridge’s writing, but you do have to answer to your readership for publishing such garbage. WTF??!?!!
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While I appreciate the intentions behind this piece, there are many things wrong with it. One, movies are not real, therefore, their verdict on real life situations cannot be taken as steady ground to stand on. How likely is it that while your parents are traveling half way around the world they will forget you (while yes I’m sure it happens its an exception at best and not the fault of traditional marriages but rather that of incompetent parents that can come from any societal background - gay, straight, single, black, white, purple). Second, not all fathers are ruggedly handsome and some may never find their match, not all stories end up happily ever after in that sense. At the same time, to your point, that shouldn’t deter the system from allowing good intentioned single parents from adopting (same as gay/lesbian couples or any other potential parents). While this is a serious issue and needs to be met with force this article does little to help. Also when supporting the homosexual community its best not to use “gay” as an adjective. That should be common sense by this point and time.
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Cannons are unable to shoot things in space. I don’t think they even make cannons anymore.
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On slashdot this would be modded as -1 flaimbait
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this might be the worst article i have ever read. from the title (which, to be fair, sean probably didn’t provide) to the use of “film” examples as actual evidence, it was an atrocious piece of both argumentation and journalism. if you want to make journalism your career, sean, you had better get your ass in gear. this sucked.
9:25, real sorry to hear your parents are dead.
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Sean,
I understand what you are trying to do with your last paragraph but it is below you. Absolute garbage that downgrades the content of you piece
BH editors,
The headline for this article is absolutely rediculous. I understand its a college newspaper but can we atleast pretend to have some sort of class and maturity?
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“Also when supporting the homosexual community its best not to use “gay” as an adjective. That should be common sense by this point and time.”
Actually, “gay” is the preferred adjective, though it is used improperly in multiple places in this article. “Homosexual,” on the other hand, is not generally kosher as a noun or an adjective.
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As a gay, I don’t have a problem with any of the usage… I think you’re all just trying to create conflict when you should be trying to create peace.
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As a gay, I don’t have a problem with any of the usage…
As another gay, I do have a problem with some of the usage, and what I have more of a problem with is people proclaiming things that are flat-out wrong. And as a person with a brain, I had a problem with this article being awful on multiple levels—linguistic and argumentative, to name just a couple.