Connecticut’s child welfare division is openly declaring their acceptance of same-sex parents so that their state can be known as a welcoming place for LGBTQ people, according to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.
“We just have to get this word out,” Malloy told the Associated Press. “We have to get more of our children placed with our families in our state.”
The Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF) will work with LGBTQ organizations and community centers to encourage same-sex couples to apply to become either adoptive or foster parents. Connecticut currently has around 4,300 children being cared for by the state, half of which are unlikely to return to their original home.
DCF Commissioner Joette Katz told AP that they currently have around 100 LGBTQ families, but wish to to raise that number to 250 by the end of Malloy’s term. “There are hundreds, if not thousands of families, that have a lot of love to give,” she said.
Connecticut’s outreach to the LGBTQ community stands in staunch opposition to recent efforts in other states. Lawmakers in Kansas and Oklahoma recently passed bills that allow adoption and foster care agencies to refuse to place children with “immoral” same-sex couples.
Shannon Smith, who adopted two young boys in DCF care with his husband Ross Stencil, said that these restrictions against gay adoptions have scared off same-sex couples looking to adopt.
“I think it’s nice DCF is pulling out the stops to really let people know, ’Hey, your love is just as good as anybody else’s. Don’t listen to that other garbage that everyone is saying. If you’re a great parent, we’re going to get you a kid,” he said.
As Ben Platt said to Cynthia Erivo, as she joined him onstage in June during a performance of his Live at the Palace stint at Broadway’s Palace Theatre, “It was very clear then that you were destined to the stratosphere.”
Platt was referring to a period nearly a decade ago, when Erivo starred in The Color Purple on Broadway, while he starred across the street in Dear Evan Hansen.
Erivo is, indeed, well on her way to stratospheric celebrity, three-quarters of the journey to being queened an “EGOT,” shorthand for someone who has won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony. While she may not have an Oscar just yet, Erivo has been twice nominated for that particular honor, so chances are it’s only a matter of time.
The stage was set inside Room 13b at the Messe München convention hall. The moderator was ready, and the panelists were seated. But someone was missing, as the audience, here in Munich on day three of the annual International AIDS Conference, prepared to hear a lively symposium on Inter-generational Dialogues and Fostering Mutual Learning and Collaboration.
After a brief delay, the event moderator, a 21-year-old queer trans social worker, decided to go ahead and kick off the discussion, inviting different generations of HIV/AIDS activists and advocates to share a transition of knowledge and techniques.
Following several brutally oppressive weeks of summer heat in D.C., it's so surprising that recent days have had temps back in the 70s. Certainly, this false-autumn weather will soon be gone. Summer still has weeks to go, even if we're coming to its traditional close, Labor Day Weekend.
That means "back to school" season. So, let's think about the kids! I don't have any, granted, but I know some. I even was one, long ago. And come Labor Day weekend, some folks who say they care about kids above all else will be settling into the J.W. Marriott downtown at 14th Street and Freedom Plaza, from Aug. 29 to Sept. 1. Is it our beloved PFLAG -- the parents, friends and family of LGBTQ folks? That would be grand!
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