Well at least there's a hint of good news coming out of my state:
Ark. to allow non-married couples to foster, adopt
http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2...-foster-adopt/
The Arkansas Department of Human Services instructed its staff Monday to accept applications from unmarried couples who’d previously been banned from serving as foster or adoptive parents.
Last week, a Pulaski County circuit judge struck down the state’s law that banned unmarried couples living together from fostering or adopting children. Judge Chris Piazza said in his ruling that the law infringed on a person’s right to privacy.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Dustin McDaniel said Monday that the state will appeal the judge’s ruling to the Arkansas Supreme Court.
“Initiated Act 1 was approved by approximately 57 percent of the voters in the 2008 election,” McDaniel said in a statement. “I believe the people of Arkansas deserve to have the state’s highest court decide whether or not to override their decision.”
Munsell said she wasn’t aware of any applications filed Monday by people who were previously barred from serving as adoptive or foster parents because of the law. She said their applications will be accepted, but stressed that the process often takes months and that the decision could change, pending any court action.
A group of families, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, sued in 2008 to overturn the ban. They argued that there are too few families willing to adopt or foster in Arkansas, which has an average of 1,600 children on waiting lists, and that good homes were being arbitrarily cut from the list.
The law effectively banned gays and lesbians who lived together from adopting or fostering children because they are unable to legally marry in Arkansas.