Many people spend their lives hoping to find that one person that they could spend the rest of their life with and start a family of their own. People think every day about their future and how everything is going to play out. Most people wish for love, happiness and laughter as they spend their days with loved ones. What makes it okay to tell people who they can or cannot share these precious moments with? If people in a gay relationship want to start a family of their own, shouldn’t they have that right? Adoption needs to be accepted and open to all gay couples.

Every day, lesbian and gay couples are judged. Someone cannot help who they fall in love with. Not allowing someone to adopt and raise a child based on their sexual orientation is discrimination. Discrimination is not tolerated in the work force or in other social situations, so it does not make sense that it is acceptable in the situation of adoption.

An article from The Week states that gays and lesbians raise children in loving and well-balanced homes. It is also proven that gays and lesbians hold more stable relationships than those of the opposite sex. This means that the child will more than likely be raised in a home where they will have both parents with very little fighting and arguing. Every family has their problems, so I am not saying that the child will be placed in a perfect family. But a stable family with both parents is often better than a broken family or a family that is constantly fighting.

The same article states that there is a shortage of couples that are willing to adopt these children that are sitting in foster homes. If gay couples were allowed to adopt these children, it is giving that child a home and family rather than having to live without one. Having a child live a life in the foster care system is potentially unhealthy and could cause the child to be disruptive.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Utah (ACLU) states that many people think that raising a child in a family with two gay parents will force the child to be gay when he/she gets older. Most people think that it is not a normal way of living and that no one should raise their child in that type of environment. The ACLU later states that the child has no more of a chance of growing up gay than those children that live with straight parents. If the child turns out to be gay, who their parents are does not influence it. If they just so happen to be gay, the parents would be more understanding of their choices than those of straight parents because they know what it is like going through life with people who discriminate against gays and lesbians.

The ACLU also brought up how some people may think that raising a child in a gay family is immoral and against religion, yet adoption agencies allow atheists to adopt children. Gambling and drinking are considered immoral, but if people gamble or drink, they are still allowed to adopt children.

Telling someone that he or she cannot start a family because of the person he or she chooses to love is wrong. People need to be more understanding and accepting of those who are different.

Being on a campus such as KU, we run into people that are different from us every day. I encourage everyone to not just walk past someone, but to talk to different people and get to know them. Stepping out of your comfort zone and getting to know someone who is different from you could potentially change your views and help you understand a lot more about different people.

Gay and lesbian couples should be able to adopt children and give them a nice loving home. Those children are our future, and we are making them sit in a foster home where they will not have an enjoyable life, when it could all be settled if everyone just accepted the fact that gay and lesbian couples could be just as good parents as straight couples.

By Gabby Kitch