Arizona Governor Jan Brewer on Monday
signed a bill that restricts gay adoption in the state, the Arizona
Republic reported.
Republican Senator Linda Gray's measure
requires both state and private adoption agencies to give preference
to married heterosexual couples.
Critics of the law said it will
discourage unmarried persons from considering adoption.
In hailing passage of the bill, Cathi
Herrod, president of the socially conservative group Center for
Arizona Policy, said that the bill was among those that dealt with
“critical issues of life, marriage and religious liberty.”
Ellen Kahn, family project director at
the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest gay rights
advocate, condemned Brewer for signing the law.
“Arizona's children and youth
suffered a major defeat when this discriminatory bill was signed into
law. At a time when far too many children are in need of a loving
forever home, this new law limits the number of families available to
them. Child welfare experts agree that adoptive parents should be
judged by their character and their ability to raise a child, not on
their marital status or sexual orientation. It's shameful that
politics trumps the needs of children. In Arizona, approximately
one-third of qualified adults adopting from foster care are single
parents.”
Supporters of the measure said children
need both a mom and a dad.