Monday, September 14, 2009

Uruguay

A country in South America. First heard of it in football of course. Soccer.
But it has got to a milestone in the ‘Homosexual Agenda’- allowing gay people to adopt. Seems like a good milestone, to me. But, there are those who defer. And are vocal about it. Here


The vice president of the Bishops’ Conference of Uruguay, Bishop Rodolfo Wirz, is  lamenting the recent approval by the Uruguayan Senate of a law allowing homosexuals to adopt. The measure, the bishop said, “is a wrong decision that is going to jeopardize all society ,but especially our children” and is “a step backwards for development.”


Bishop Wirz told CNA that the Church respects homosexual persons but that when it comes to the issue of “adoption, that is, raising a girl or boy whose identity is at stake, and of the complementarity between fatherhood and motherhood, beyond the religious dimension, we think this measure is inappropriate, it is counterproductive and of no benefit to our society.”


“I think the passage of this law is a step backwards for the development of society,” he continued.  “Moreover, being the first Latin American country to pass a law allowing homosexuals to adopt is not a point in our favor; rather, it is unfortunate and sad because this is not the way to help boys and girls who need to be adopted,” he said.

Well, gay and a man, cant sleep with a woman. Ok, can, but, (pssshhhhhhh!) dont know whether would perform...! Ah!!!

So, I am still a human being. Want, feel like having children. Can support them of course. Very different from what my father wants.. Just a bigger clan. Spread my seed etc. I want my own children. To love, to teach, to laugh with and share my laugh with. Yeah, even the fact that I am gay, and happy, and married. (to a man, of course!)

So, what is bad about that?

Nothing, I say.

Everything. Says many other people. And know why they say that? In defense of the 'Family'. Which family? Certainly not mine, not the one that I want to bring up.

Life is short, sweet. We are here but for a short time. Think I should defer my joy in having children in deference to some abstract family that I can never have? Yeah, you be the judge...!

And Bravo, Uruguay

gug

4 comments:

Leonard said...

Bravo Uruguay!

Bravo Argentina (for the civil partnerships)

Latin America is moving fast to iron out previous taboos and difficulties...only the Catholic Bishops (who few seriously listen to anyway) and the Evangelicals (who many listen to because they have lots of ¨stuff¨ to give and share, especially the Mormons). Latin America is a land filled with double standards that include double families (or more) that nobody knows anything about...also, lots of children born without real ¨last names¨ (here we have class issues)...millions of closeted bi-sexuals and out Gays...lots of transvestites (who are the most targeted for crimes of hate)...in countries where the ¨law¨ applies only to those unfortunate enough to not buy there way out from under the law and other ¨legal¨ agendas/needs are ¨handled¨ easily for the sake of ¨connections¨ and ¨networking¨ and $$$...well, there is almost no other need for any REAL laws other than a wink and a nod...never forget that the prisons filled with desperate criminals are also impoverished citizens and have few options (even in jail they have to pay for their food and cleaning services).

Anonymous said...

Its true, we are only here for a short while. Why not make a difference? In the debate about morality and family values, the children are often forgotten. A loving, stable home is really all that a child needs to grow and thrive. Judgment is reserved for those with the luxury of authority/voice. The continued influence of an oppressive ideology in Latin America shouldn’t discourage Uruguay from celebrating their progress. Just because we are gay, doesn’t mean we can’t raise healthy families. A lot of states in the US still don’t permit LGBT adoptions, yet we Americans tout ourselves as the pinnacle of progress. Bravo, Uruguay.

Jessica said...

I agree, Cheers to Uruguay!

I live in America and am an American citizen. In our most recent elections, certain states put a ban on gay adoption. I do not understand it. First of all, there are numerous children out there who need homes and families. What gives anyone the right to take that opportunity for a child to find a home away just because they do not agree the adopted parents sexuality? It is wrong. Secondly, we LGBT people deserve the right to adopt and have a family just as much as anybody else.

I saw this interesting documentary recently that followed a woman who had supported the ban on gay adoption. They had her live with a gay couple, who had adopted children, for a month. By the end of the month, she admitted that she could not find a logical reason as to why this couple shouldn't be able to raise children but she found herself so conflicted with this finding because it made her religious and political views make no sense.

Maybe, if all the people who make all the laws and practice all the hated in the world just stopped and remembered that they are dealing with human beings who all deserve the right to happiness, then all of this injustice could come to an end.

I realize that this is quite a naive statement but I see it more as a statement of a hopeful soul who hopes to see a change in the world.
Because, you are absolutely right. Life is short and we are only here for a short time. I believe that if a person is lucky enough to find happiness and love and peace in life, then NO ONE has the right to take that away.

Katherine said...

Of course, I agree with GayUganda and all previous commenters in supporting any country that allows LGBT people to adopt, but I thought what Jessica mentioned about the documentary was particularly interesting; if all of those people who so steadfastly believe that gays are unfit to raise children were subject to the same experience, I believe they too would find that their views make little sense. So many prejudiced, close-minded people make their decisions based on what their parents or friends believe, on what their religion tells them to believe, on the code of “morality” they were raised with and stubbornly refuse to abandon - vote against laws like the one passed in Uruguay, just because they’ve always been told it’s the right thing to do. Like the woman in that documentary, they know absolutely nothing about how real gay people live their day-to-day lives, so they are realistically in no position to judge how capable we are of raising healthy children. And yet they decide, based on nothing concrete, that allowing it would be “counterproductive” and “jeopardize all society”, apparently believing the twisted logic that anyone with a same-sex attraction is somehow incapable of loving or supporting a child. They don’t really understand why it’s “unfortunate and sad” to adopt a child out to gay or lesbian parents; they don’t have studies or figures to prove any of their claims; they don’t have any reason at all to believe that gay parents can’t raise a child just as successfully as straight parents - even more successfully, in fact, than the thousands of so-called “normal” parents who abuse or neglect their biological children – other than that Gays Are Bad, and so we must be Bad For Our Children.

If only more of these bigots were exposed to the same enlightening experience as that woman, then maybe they would understand that – gasp – being gay doesn’t mean you’re any less of a human, or any worse of a parent, or any less possessed of the very natural desire to have children. Bishop Wirz says that allowing gays to adopt is “of no benefit to our society”, but there is so much more benefit than a person like him could possibly understand; for someone who has always taken the ability to have children and a family for granted, it’s likely difficult to imagine the hopelessness of not having that option, or how good it would feel to finally be allowed one of the most basic of all human rights. GayUganda asks why he should “defer [his] joy in having children in deference to some abstract family that [he] can never have”, and he is spot on – why should LGBT people be robbed of something many parents would describe as their greatest joy in life, just because of negative consequences that have never been shown to exist? Why should we suffer – as millions of parents out there know they would suffer, were they not allowed to have or be with their children – because of our sexual preferences, when we’re apparently so “respected” by people like Bishop Wirz?

And there is one final note that I have to have, in respect to GayUganda and all of the other gay men out there reading and commenting on this – while I am a lesbian who wants very, very much to have children of her own one day, and while lesbians face just as much discrimination as gay men when it comes to adoption in the U.S., I do realize how much easier it is for a woman to have a child than for a man. In most cases, lesbians in the U.S. can fairly simply get artificially inseminated, or in the worst case scenario – to put it crudely – can just pick up a man, close their eyes, and let nature do what it does best. But for a gay man, having children outside the law is nearly impossible, unless you’re lucky enough to know a woman eager to give away her baby; so as much as I do defend the concept of gay adoption for all members of the LGBT community, I understand that it is a freedom most necessary for gay men in particular, and I make the argument above with you especially in mind.

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