organization advocating on behalf of gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgender families, invites Rep. Michele Bachman (R-MN) to
attend the nation’s largest gay parenting conference in Minneapolis
this Saturday, April 10.
“Considering what the congresswoman has said about LGBT people and their children, I
call on her, from one mother to another, to show up at our
conference tomorrow and meet the people she is demonizing,” said
Jennifer Chrisler, FEC executive director. “The congresswoman
says she’s about family values – yet she clearly doesn’t
value all families. She says she’s about Christian values, but
she doesn’t act like a Christian towards families like mine.”
Thirty years of scientific research has proven that sexual
orientation has no bearing on parenting ability and that children
raised by gay parents are just as healthy and well-adjusted as
other children. The American Academy of Pediatrics, American
Medical Association, American Psychological Association, Child
Welfare League of America and the National Adoption Center all
recognize that gay people can be good parents and, thus, have
issued statements opposing restrictions on parenting by lesbians
and gay men.
“Rep. Bachmann should meet LGBT parents and their kids who
reside in Minnesota and across the country,” said Chrisler. “She
would see there are a whole lot of qualified loving parents ready,
willing, and able to adopt many of the 500,000 kids currently in
foster care in the United States. If the congresswoman can’t make
it Saturday, we urge conference attendees– LGBT parents– to show
up at her district office on Monday morning.”
FEC is leading the national campaign to pass the Every Child
Deserves a Family Act, H.R. 4806, federal legislation that requires
every state to look at the best interest of the children when
making placement decisions as opposed to focusing on the sexual
orientation, gender identify or marital status of the prospective
parents.
On Saturday, Chrisler will lead panel discussions on parenting
and will introduce the keynote speaker, B.D. Wong, a Tony
Award-winning actor best known for playing Dr. George Huang on
NBC’s Law and Order: SVU. The conference runs from 8:30
a.m. – 4:30 p.m. at Anwatin/Bryn Mawr School, 256 Upton Ave. South
in Minneapolis, MN.