Arkansas Supreme Court Upholds Gay Fostering

http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/06/062906arkansas.htm

The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a lower court ruling that it is unconstitutional to bar gays and lesbians from becoming foster parents.

The justices rejected an appeal from the Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services which had argued children would suffer under the care of gays or lesbians.

"There is no correlation between the health, welfare and safety of foster children and the blanket exclusion of any individual who is a homosexual or who resides in a household with a homosexual," Associate Justice Donald Corbin wrote in the opinion.

"The Arkansas Supreme Court clearly understood what social scientists and every respected child welfare organization have been saying for years: There is no reason to deprive children of good homes by excluding lesbian and gay people from serving as foster parents," said Rita Sklar, Executive Director of the ACLU of Arkansas.