Oklahoma

The Oklahoma Health Department announced that it will not appeal a ruling earlier this month that struck down a state law refusing Oklahoma birth certificates to children adopted by out-of-state same-sex couples.

Oklahoma's Adoption Invalidation Law was passed in 2004. It said that Oklahoma shall not recognize an adoption by more than one individual of the same sex from any other state or foreign jurisdiction."

Under the law, single gay men and lesbians could become the parent of adoptive children, but same-sex couples were barred from adopting. The law even allowed the state to invalidate adoptions where couples had been awarded joint parenting rights in states where co-adoption is legal.

Is homosexuality still viewed as a sin? A recent Gallup Poll found Americans nearly evenly split between those who saw homosexual relations as "morally acceptable" (47 percent) and those who saw them as "morally wrong" (49 percent).

According to polls, our community is gaining friends.