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French court grants lesbian couple right to adopt

A court in the eastern French city of Besançon has ordered local authorities to grant a lesbian school teacher and her partner adoption rights, the latest event in an 11-year legal battle that has triggered a national debate in France and involved the European Court of Human Rights, reports Thaddeus M. Baklinski, LifeSiteNews.com.

The Besançon court overturned a previous ruling by a local assembly in the Jura Department, saying the arguments advanced by the assembly could not "legally justify the decision to reject the request" put forward by the homosexual women.

"The parental, educational and psychological conditions provided by the applicant are in line with the needs and the interest of the adopted child," the judge ruled.

French law allows single people to adopt but maintains that adoption by same-sex couples is not permissible, a position that was condemned by the European Court of Human Rights which ruled in favor of the lesbians when they brought their case before it in January 2008.

Government spokesman Luc Chatel said the ruling would trigger further debate by the country's policymakers.

"The government and the president have on several occasions expressed our position which is that we are not in favor of the adoption of children by same-sex couples," he said in a Reuters report.

"A legal ruling has been handed down. Well, we have to take note and I think it should contribute to our thinking on the subject," Chatel said.

Homosexual advocate Noel Mamere of France's Green Party said the Besançon ruling was an important step forward for homosexual "rights."

"It's about time that politicians should stop being cowardly and drop their stupid representations of what a family should be," Mamere said in comments posted on the website of Public Sénat TV.

Conclusive studies on the harm done to children raised in homosexual parenting situations have been available for many years.

An in-depth report on information from a vast number of studies carried out on the issue and published in Spain in 2005 concluded that "In no way can a couple of persons of the same sex be judged suitable for adopting a child. Considering the findings of this vast bibliography we are obliged to protect the minor and say that same-sex couples must not be allowed to adopt children."

The report, entitled "Report on Infantile Development in Same-Sex Couples" found that among children raised by same-sex couples, a significant increase in low self-esteem, stress, confusion regarding sexual identity, an increase in mental illness, drug use, promiscuity, STD's, and homosexual behavior, was evident when compared to children raised with their biological mother and father.

Furthermore, the report showed that statistics have brought to light the fact that same-sex relationships betray a much higher instance of separation, break-up and "multi-partnering" than heterosexual relationships, increasing the likelihood that the child will experience familial instability.

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TAGS: France Besançon homosexual adoption right to adopt same-sex "marriage"

[11/16/2009]

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