Thursday, March 8, 2012
Gov. Bob McDonnell is expected to sign into law a bill that would allow state-funded private child-placement agencies the right to deny services based on their religious or moral beliefs.
Greg Greeley grew up in a large family and knew that one day he would want to start his own. "When I decided to start a family, and began reaching out to adopt, I was a single father," said Greeley, who moved to Virginia in 1987. He was in the Air Force and stationed at the Pentagon. As a single, gay man, Greeley faced many challenges before successfully navigating the state's adoption process. He started the process in 2001. A year later, after locating a progressive child-placement agency in Virginia, he adopted his first child from Ukraine. "It was a hard process and I was lucky," said Greeley, who lives in Arlington and now has a second adopted son from El Salvador. "The first question I asked each agency was, 'Do you work with single …
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Calls move a 'dramatic step backward' for Virginia
The Virginia Senate on Thursday passed a bill that allows private adoption agencies receiving state funding to bar gay couples from adopting children. Virginia will be only the second state in the country to pass a law that allows adoption agencies to ban gay couples from adoptions, joining North Dakota. The bill also applies to foster care agencies. Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-30th District), the state General Assembly's first openly gay member, who represents parts of Fairfax County, Arlington and the City of Alexandria, spoke out against the bill Thursday. "Let's be clear about what this bill is about, it has always been about denying GLBT Virginians the opportunity to form families...this has been clear since its inception," Ebbin said from the…
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Fairfax County sponsor Families Make Beautiful Music event
November is National Adoption Awareness Month and the Fairfax County Family Services Department sponsored an event in its honor. The majority of children in foster care currently looking for families are over nine-years old, have a sibling in the system, or have special needs. "We like to raise awareness for children in foster care that need to be adopted," Family Services employee Anne Goldberg said. "This is such an important cause and our office is dedicated to finding the children homes." Last Friday, Nov. 5, the Fairfax Government Center hosted "Families Make Beautiful Music," an evening of interactive music, celebration and live adoptions. Families from all over the county attended to share their stories and support the cause. "…
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Fred and Wilma are an adorable and talented packaged deal
Fred, a dachshund, and Wilma, a chihuahua mix, have known each other all their lives. The couple have been at the animal shelter after their first adopted parents developed allergies. As with most adults in the shelter, the two three-year-olds are housebroken and know how to sit and wait for treats.
David
12:18 am on Sunday, March 18, 2012
Gerald, the question remains, do you agree with scripture that ALL homosexuals, adulterers, liars, thiefs, bestializers, anyone who curses, disobedient/willful/petulant children, people with tatoos, believers in astrology, women who are not virgins before their marriage, anyone having premarital sex, anyone who transacts business on the sabbath, wearers of mixed fabrics, eaters of shrimp, crabs, … more ›