The Story Behind Russian’s Gay Adoption Ban

Mark Newton (right) and Peter Truong with their adopted son outside their home in Cairns, Australia

During the same month that U. S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy was issuing his opinion that the Defense of Marriage Act “humiliated tens of thousands of children now being raised by same-sex couples,” Russia’s House of Parliament voted unanimously to ban the adoption of Russian children by same-sex couples from abroad.  The House also voted to forbid single people who are citizens or permanent residents of countries that allow same sex marriage to become adoptive parents or legal guardians of Russian children.

Children’s rights ombudsman Pavel Astakhov vowed to do everything possible to “ensure that Russian orphans are only adopted by traditional, heterosexual families.”

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, who has already expressed support for the adoption ban, has promised to sign the bill once it is submitted for its final reading during the Russian parliament’s autumn session. Putin has strong support from the Head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, who sees the recognition of same sex unions as a “portent of doom” and has called upon Russians to ensure that sin is never formalized by the rule of law. In a Sunday service in Red Square’s Kazan Cathedral on July 20th, the Patriarch said “we face enormous temptations when countries start approving sin and codifying it into law in order to justify it.”  (more...)

The Story Behind Russian’s Gay Adoption Ban