The recent decision by the Charity Commission to reject a Roman Catholic adoption charity’s appeal for the right to refuse to place children with homosexual couples has caused considerable debate among our panellists.
Out of 969 responses, the Charity Commission’s verdict received much support among those asked, with many believing that ‘sexual orientation does not determine whether you are a good parent’, and one saying that ‘the laws of the country rank above cultural or religious views’. Many felt that ‘people should be able to adopt based on their ability to care for children, regardless of their sexuality’.
Religious charities’ beliefs
However, a significant minority sympathised with Catholic Care’s desire to limit services provided to gay people on ‘religious grounds’, with some of those polled thinking that ‘gay couples should not be allowed to adopt’. Some justified their view through their religious beliefs, while others felt that in order to develop fully, ‘children need both male and female ‘parents’’. Some simply worried that adopted children could be subject to bullying at school. A few said that although they personally do not take issue with the right of gay couples to adopt children, they felt that ‘religious charities should be able to tailor their services in line with their beliefs’.
The Catholic Church and children’s welfare
However, a number of the panellists took a different tack, turning the argument back onto the Catholic Church itself. One said, ‘I don't agree that Roman Catholics should be allowed to run adoption agencies’, while another emphatic, if controversial, panellist felt that ‘the Catholic Church has no right to talk about children’s welfare’ considering ‘the long-term history of sexual abuse against children in Roman Catholic institutions’.
Most panellists who answered, however, simply argued that ‘sexual orientation should not be a barrier to adoption’, provided that parents ‘love, care and protect’ adopted children. One commented that ‘gay people can even be better parents than straight couples’, while a number of users pointed out that children who fail to be adopted could end up spending their entire childhood in care, instead of experiencing a ‘stable, loving home life’ that any couple, gay or straight, could provide. One writer summarised the mood, claiming that ‘stability should count more than sexuality’.
