| Congressman Dennis Kucinich (OH 10) voted NO on banning
gay adoptions in DC. (HR 2587 Jul 1999).
Congress won't prevent gays and lesbians in the U.S. capital from adopting The big victory of the day for gays and lesbians was the narrow defeat by 215 - 213 of a proposal by Representative Steve Largent (R-OK) to prohibit use of federal or city funds for adoptions by couples unrelated by blood or marriage. Last year when Largent introduced the same rider, it was passed by 227 - 192, although it was later removed in a House-Senate conference committee. The gay and lesbian Log Cabin Republicans believe their lobbying helped make the difference, as 35 Republicans joined House Democrats in rejecting the rider, including five Republicans who had previously supported the amendment. Three Republicans spoke out in opposition on the floor of the House: open gay Jim Kolbe (R-AZ), Mark Foley (R-FL) and Heather Wilson (R-NM). Largent's proposed ban on adoptions by same-gender and other unmarried couples was opposed by the nation's largest child welfare organization, the Child Welfare League of America, and by the American Psychological Association, as well as by the American Civil Liberties Union and national gay and lesbian groups. |