Gay Bashing in (surprise) Texas
 

Texas May Ban Gay Foster Parents

So when conservatives complain about liberals assault on the rights of religious Americans, I guess it means their right to turn gays and lesbians into second class citizens.

What's funny about the law is that it tries to ban 'bisexuals' from acting as foster parents as well as gays. How the hell do they intend to enforce that?

Oh, the best part is that it would effectively go retroactive: any foster parent undergoing evaluation who outs himself or herself will have the children removed from their home.

Yes, that's right, the Texas Lege wants to REMOVE FOSTER CHILDREN FROM THEIR HOMES in the name of saving their immortal souls from Teh Gay.

Airlift Molly Ivins, the Dallas Stars and the better chili and barbeque recipes out of the state, then start building the wall. It's time.

Let's not forget the Dixie Chicks and the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders. The football team can stay. Noone here in Philadelphia will miss them.

Look, you have to understand the politics behind this (the bill, not the gay bashing.) Our Child Protective Services system is more than woefully inadequate--you know how Florida social services lost that girl, Rilya, who they were supposed to be checking up on? Remember what an outcry that caused? Shit, all they did was get snowed by a convoluted lie about why the girl wasn't at the house.

We just recently had a scandal where a particular pair of foster parents were not only reviewed by social services and given the thumbs-up repeatedly, but they were specifically showcased as pillars of the foster system. Turns out they were abusing all of these kids horrifically for years, closer to torture than abuse. (Actually, I think their arrest was linked in another thread...)

The bill to revamp Child Protective Services was going to pass, and everyone knew it. The vote was 135-6, and we do have more than 6 Democrats in our state legislature. Basically what happened was one asshole, Sen. Robert Talton, added an amendment to the bill that a lot of people (including Republicans) disagreed with, but politically the bill had to be passed and implemented as soon as possible.

I'm sure they're counting on exactly what I'll bet money is going to happen: That amendment will get struck down as unconstitutional by the courts, just like it did when Arkansas passed a similar bill. Meanwhile the less controversial aspects of the CPS overhaul will already be underway.

Plus, they get brownie points from the fundies, and they get to further denigrate the "activist courts".

It's not just gays, they hate cheerleaders too.
 

Those crazy Texans! Now you can't shake your hips in a "sexually suggestive" way, (cite cite), but you can marry your 14 year old stepchild see SS 2.004.6 and SS 2.009.3.

We have the same thing going in Missouri right now. All these children in need, and people willing to serve them (in the case of the particular couple here in MO, highly qualified professionals with experience in the field of disturbed and disabled children, no less).

The hell with it...let Jesus take care of these kids. No problem.

BigV, your links are broken. Amusingly, by having double break tags at the end of the URL.