A second Louisiana committee has
rejected a bill that sought to allow gay and lesbian couples to
jointly adopt a child, the Leesville Daily Reader reported.
Louisiana is among a handful of states
that prohibit gay couples from adopting by restricting adoptions to
married couples in a state that defines marriage as a heterosexual
union. However, a partnered gay or lesbian person where the pair
live apart may adopt a child, but only one adult can become the legal
parent.
Representative Juan LaFonta's bill
sought to allow gay couples to jointly adopt a child.
“There are too many children who need
homes,” LaFonta, a New Orleans Democrat, told NOLA.com. “We've
got to stop this narrow regulating of what is a family and what's
not.”
On Wednesday, the Louisiana House Civil
Law and Procedure Committee voted unanimously to pass on LaFonta's
bill. A similar bill died with a 3-to-1 vote in a Senate committee
earlier this legislative session.
A similar
measure approved in 2008 by voters in Arkansas was ruled
unconstitutional in April. In making his ruling, the judge said
the law was “troubling” because it “specifically targeted”
gay men and lesbians. Opponents have vowed to appeal.
Only Florida has an outright ban on gay
adoption. The ban, however, was also found to be unconstitutional in
2008. An
appeals court heard the case last August after the state challenged
the lower court's ruling and a decision is expected any day now.
Opponents of removing the adoption
restrictions in Louisiana argue that such actions would violate the
spirit of the state's gay marriage ban.