Gay couples face hurdles as judges interpret law

[CShine]

Annise Parker's adopted daughters beamed bright smiles on the night of her election to city controller. Front and center on the victory podium, 13-year-old Daniela and 9-year-old Marquitta were participating in a mainstay of the American political scene. For the openly gay Parker and partner Kathy Hubbard, the night signaled personal triumphs far removed from winning political office. That's because a month before, Parker wasn't sure she would be allowed to adopt the girls, who had been in and out of foster care for years. On the day the adoptions were to be finalized, Parker said, the juvenile judge refused to allow anyone in his court to preside over them. Children's Protective Services had already approved placing the girls with the lesbian couple.

"(The judge) didn't think gays should adopt and that I ought to find another judge," Parker said. She did.

Whether other openly gay Harris County residents have gone through a similar experience is difficult to gauge because adoption records are sealed. But while Texas law neither prohibits nor protects homosexual adoption -- leaving the matter to local courts -- gay rights activists say juvenile judges here have interpreted the law conservatively, giving the perception they discriminate against gays and lesbians.

"Gays and lesbians have to jump through more hoops than heterosexuals, despite no proven scientific study that says (they) have any negative consequence on children," said Randall Ellis, executive director of the Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby of Texas.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2646676