How very ... unexpected. Nice, but definitely not expected.
Leading Republicans in Texas distanced themselves Friday from a proposal to make the state the only one to prohibit gays and lesbians from being foster parents. It appears the plan will die without becoming law.
The Texas House approved the plan this week, despite concerns that as many as 3,000 children could be removed from their foster homes. But amid a groundswell of anger and criticism, conservatives backed away from the proposal Friday. GOP leaders, including Gov. Rick Perry, said the proposal was so flawed it could endanger a broader initiative to overhaul the Texas Department of Child Protective Services. Kathy Walt, Perry's spokeswoman, said the governor believed that a "traditional marriage between a man and a woman is the best environment in which to raise children." However, she added, "He does not want the important focus of reforming CPS to get sidetracked by this debate. We need to focus on protecting children," she said.
Among Republican lawmakers, Perry's response was seen as a message to back off. And a key state senator leading the CPS restructuring effort said that she planned to resist the amendment containing the ban on gay foster parents. GOP Sen. Jane Nelson said that because a similar plan was declared unconstitutional in Arkansas, she feared that the Child Protective Services overhaul would be stalled by legal challenges. "We need these reforms immediately to help those children who are living in danger as we speak," she said in an e-mail. "And we cannot allow this reform bill to be tied up in the courts for years over an issue that was never part of our review." A spokeswoman for Rep. Robert Talton, who proposed the ban, said he no longer wished to discuss the issue.
No, after being (somewhat politely) smacked down by the governor and several people in his party, I don't imagine that he would wish to discuss the issue any more.
Posted by iain at April 25, 2005 12:58 PM
