Petition to protest ‘homophobic’ GOP amendment launched by gay dads
Two gay dads have set up a petition to protest an amendment which they say would force states to give money to adoption agencies that won’t place children to LGBT parents.
Jamie McGonnigal and Sean Carlson created the online petition in an attempt to stop the “blatantly homophobic” motion going forward.
McGonnigal, who adopted his 8 month old son with Carlson, told PinkNews he started the activism to fight for the rights of families like his.
“With so many thousands of children out there just waiting to find their forever home, it deeply saddens us that the GOP is going their best to keep those babies and kids from finding the love of a family,” McGonnigal told PinkNews.
The 42-year-old, who is the Director of Business Development for SOCAP, said the pair are still waiting to hear a response from the GOP and extended a public invite to any Republican voting for the measure to have dinner at their house.
The couple, who live in an urban suburb of Washington D.C, said: “Our ask is clear. Meet with us, look at our little family and the love we have, and tell us you don’t think we should be able to be parents to our faces.”
The petition, which has almost reached its goal of 30,000 signatures, states that U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt “snuck” the amendment into a funding bill for the Education, Labor, Health and Human Services Departments.
“If passed, the amendment would stipulate that states that won’t give money to child welfare agencies that want to discriminate will receive less federal funding for child services,” the web protest says.
“In what is clearly a blatantly homophobic move, GOP legislators at the federal level have advanced a new rule that would punish states that refuse to give funding to religious adoption agencies that won’t place children to LGBTQ parents,” the site reads.
Jamie McGonnigal and Sean Carlson set up the petition to protest against the amendment.
The couple hope that gaining 30,000 signatures will be enough for them to garner a response from the GOP (Republican Party).
“If not, the goal moves until they feel a response to their desire to write discrimination into law, is necessary,” McGonnigal said.
“And after that, we keep going. This will not be the end of it,” he added, “we will fight it wherever and whenever it arises.”
