Movement toward adoption by gay couples in Louisiana has momentum but little enthusiasm
There’s a movement in Louisiana that may help gay couples adopt children. The Louisiana Commission on Marriage and Family has been approached about adoption equality for gay couples.
The idea, made in a presentation Thursday by the Forum for Equality Louisiana, was greeted with little enthusiasm from commission members in a state that has a constitutional ban on gay marriage.
Louisiana currently allows married couples or a single person to adopt a child. If a single person adopts a child and is in a relationship – whether heterosexual or homosexual – the partner in that relationship has no legal parental rights to the child.
Kenny Tucker, chairman of Forum for Equality Louisiana, says the group would like to see unmarried couples able to adopt children. Rep. Frank Hoffmann, a member of the marriage and family commission, says he doubts that idea would gain traction with state lawmakers.