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Creep of the Week: Ohio Rep. Ron Hood

Ohio Rep. Ron Hood

I'll admit, it's hard to have a sense of humor about the sweep of anti-gay adoption bills cropping up. It's just so insulting to the very core to the many LGBT people raising kids – and all of the people who know and love them.
So thank goodness for Sen. Robert Hagan (D-Ohio), who has proposed a bill to ban "GOP adoptions." The fake ban was Hagan's response to a real "gay adoption" ban proposed by Ohio Rep. Ron Hood (R-Asheville).
Hagan sent out a memo to the rest of the Ohio Senate alerting them to the problem of GOP adoptions. The memo reads, "Credible research exists that strongly suggests that adopted children raised in Republican households, though significantly wealthier than their Democrat-raised counterparts, are more at risk for developing emotional problems, social stigmas, inflated egos, an alarming lack of tolerance for others they deem different than themselves, and an air of overconfidence to mask their insecurities."
Oh, that Hagan. What a cut-up.
Of course, we can laugh at the absurdity of his proposal because he's joking. No one would really advocate banning Republicans from adopting children. Everyone knows there are many loving, capable parents of the GOP persuasion.
Unfortunately, Rep. Hood was not joking when he said that adoptions should not be permitted "if the individual is a homosexual, bisexual, or transgender individual; the individual is a stepparent of the child to be adopted and is a homosexual, bisexual, or transgender individual; the individual resides with an individual who the court determines is a homosexual, bisexual, or transgender individual."
While just as absurd as Hagan's idea, this one is actually being entertained. Thankfully, it's not going far. Earlier this month House Speaker Jon A. Husted (R-Kettering) basically told Hood to go blow. He's not letting the bill move.
"Most reasonable people would have a preference for being in a loving, alternative setting rather than an abusive, heterosexual setting," Husted's Chief of Staff Scott Borgemenke told The Columbus Dispatch. "I don't think that's a partisan issue. I think that's the truth."
Husted would rather spend legislative time on things that impact everyone in Ohio. Real problems – like, oh, jobs.
"There's a growing concern within the Republican party of continuing to introduce this divisive legislation," Borgemenke said. "We don't think there's some cottage industry of homosexual adoptions. We do believe people are losing their jobs."
See? Some Republicans can do the right thing. Go, Husted.
But Hood is still determined to muscle his measure to the floor.
"Studies have shown that the optimal setting to raise children in is a traditional setting with a mom and a dad," Hood told the Dispatch, warning that the kids of gay parents are at "increased risk" of being physically and emotionally messed up.
Of course, the only studies that have shown this to be true are done by right-wing crackpots. Credible studies have shown the kids of LGBT parents are doing just fine, thank you.
Tell Hood to lay off the kids by calling him at 614-466-2500 or emailing [email protected].

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