Virginia will issue new birth certificates to parents who adopt a child, but the government tried to avoid doing this when it came to gay couples adopting children. The Virginia Supreme Court has struck this down. Gays can no longer adopt in Virginia, but gay couples in other states may adopt children who were born in Virginia.

The Hampton Roads Pilot reports:

"We've believed all along that it was simply a matter of common sense — that when a child has two legal parents, both of those parents should be reflected on the birth certificate," said Rebecca Glenberg, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, which represented the couples. ... Accurate birth certificates are critically important for many reasons, said Glenberg, of the ACLU. In a medical emergency, for example, a birth certificate may be needed to prove a parent-child relationship in order to authorize treatment, she said.

Richmond Circuit Judge Randall G. Johnson said in February 2004 that requiring the state to issue new birth certificates with the names of the children's adoptive parents instead of their birth parents conflicts with Virginia's policy of prohibiting joint adoption by unmarried couples.

"There is nothing in the statutory scheme that precludes recognition of same-sex couples as 'adoptive parents,'" the high court wrote in its ruling. "Pursuant to statute, the issuance of the new certificate of birth is to include 'the names of the intended parents.'"

So, anti-gay bigotry will be denied one more form of expression in Virginia; unfortunately, there are so many other ways that this bigotry is expressed in Virginia law that it only represents a minor victory. Critics argue that these new birth certificates are "incompatible" with Virginia's public policy; what they really mean is that the birth certificates are inconsistent with Virginia's policy of public discrimination.

The Washington Times quotes:

The Family Foundation expressed dismay over the court ruling, calling the case "another effort by homosexual groups to circumvent the will of Virginians."

Oh, it's so terrible when gays are treated like any other citizen.

Read More:

• Gay Rights, Gay Marriage
• Evangelical Christianity & Homosexuality
• Catholicism & Homosexuality