April 22, 2005
Rally to Save Texas Families
By Karl-Thomas Musselman
I'm floating this up since the event is in a few hours. The following is from Jake Holbrook, director of StandOut, recognized as the "Best New Organization" on campus this year.
In light of recent attacks on the LGBT community by the Texas legislature in the form of SB 6, an anti-gay foster care bill. It would seek to further solidify the place of the LGBT community’s members as second class citizens. StandOut of the University of Texas at Austin is organizing a Rally and Protest at the Texas Capitol, this Friday April 22nd.
What: Save Texas Families Rally and Protest
Where: In front of the Capitol Gates, 11th and Congress
When: Friday, April 22nd –
12:00 pm Gather and make posters,
12:30 pm Rally begins,
2:30 pm Rally ends.
Why:
StandOut has organized this Protest and Rally in reaction to SB 6 which seeks to reform the Texas Child Protective Services Agency. Rep. Robert Talton’s amendment to this bill though would do, among other things:
- Prevent Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual people from fostering children in the state of Texas
- Take the children away from all 43,000 Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual people already forming families
- Remove these children from loving, stable families and place them back into the already overburdened Foster Care system
- Emotionally destroy these Texas families
- Allows the new CPS Agency to conduct “investigations” into suspect foster parents not already officially identified as Gay, Lesbian, or Bisexual
- Will cost the state of Texas an additional $8 million dollars every year
We will not tolerate this kind of discrimination. We will stand together. We will fight. We will make ourselves heard.
Jake Holbrook
Director, StandOut
Young People For, 2005 Fellow
Posted by Karl-Thomas Musselman at April 22, 2005 08:07 AM
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I just want to point out that there are not 43,000 gay/lesbian/bisexual people currently fostering children. There are only a little over 17,000 children in foster care in the entire state. Randall Ellis of LGRL has said before that there are 43,000 gay and lesbian households in the state, and that is likely where this statistic originally came from.
Ooops, thanks for the corrections.
I just saw the story on CNN... are there any petitions going around? Where would I look to put together names, etc. to present to legislators?
I could not believe it when that moron from Pasadena said that "some of us know that children are better off in orphanages" than with gay,lesbian couples.
Please advise!
Why is a family "gay" if the foster parents are? Are you aware of some evidence that gayness rubs off on children in the proximity, making the whole family gay? I would think a family is a family, regardless of the sexuality of some of the members...
BTW, am I the only one who has trouble understanding why conservative "Christians" have far more hate for gays than they have love for children? So much so that they would rather children have no family at all than to have gay foster parents? It's a good thing there is no way to tell if donated food was dropped off by a gay person, they might destroy it rather then feed the poor.
