A Tennessee State Representative makes no bones about her attitudes towards gays and lesbians, particularly those who are parents. In a recent email exchange with a Vanderbilt graduate student on the topic of gay parent adoptions, Republican Rep. Debra Maggart said that gay couples have “numerous emotional dysfunctions and psychological issues.”
The story has made its rounds on several blogs (Tennessee Guerilla Women and The Blend, most notably), our local GLBT paper, and eventually our local paper, The Tennessean, got the story after several days. You can read the details on the links provided, but what I find most interesting is that Rep. Maggart and the committee assigned to review this issue had several groups come in to present information on gay and lesbian couples adopting children, including the very anti-gay Focus on the Family (I might add), but I have YET to find any information on whether Rep. Maggart or any of the committee members have ACTUALLY spoken to any gay parents or their children.
Perhaps, it would be wise before jumping to erroneous conclusions or listening to potentially biased third party organizations that these representatives meet with and listen to those affected by their judgments. Have they ever talked to a child that has been shuttled between foster homes and asked if they would care if they were in the home of a gay couple? Would they care if that home was the LAST home they got sent to and they could finally call their real home? Have they ever gotten outside of their offices and talked to anyone about these issues or are they content listening to bigots at Focus on the Anus, um, I mean, Family?