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Creep of the Week: Brad Snavely

In case you missed it, the Detroit News ran an excellent piece June 6 on the second parent adoption bill pending in Michigan's legislature. The bill would allow unmarried adults, including gays, to adopt children together.
It's a critical piece of legislation. Kids legally tethered to two parents responsible for their care are better off than kids with only one legal parent. And I say that not at the expense of single parents, many of whom are doing a tremendous job. But where there are two adults who are committed to each other and a child, that child should be able to enjoy the benefits of a legal relationship with both. Additionally, those parents deserve the peace of mind that should something happen to the lone legal parent the child would not end up yanked from the only other parent he or she knows.

Usually I have a problem when the mainstream media go to anti-gay talking heads like Gary Glenn of the American Family Association of Michigan or Brad Snavely, executive director of the Michigan Family Forum, for the opposition's point of view. They're so extreme it defies reason to consider them legitimate sources.
But in the case of the June 6 story, I can't really blame the News. The bill has widespread support among groups that actually care about children, including the State Bar of Michigan Family Law Section, Michigan Department of Human Services and Gov. Granholm.
So when looking for naysayers, you really do have to hunt for nuts.
"It's really not about whether unmarried people love children or can care adequately for children," Brad Snavely told the News.
Really? Because the bill is pretty straight forward, no pun intended. According to the News, "[Advocates] say changing the law would offer children who are being raised in nontraditional homes options for better health care, backup benefits in the event of the death or disability of the primary caregiver and a second person who can legally handle emergency or everyday decisions."
So what on earth does Snavely think it's about?
"The legislation would undermine the institution of marriage," he said.
Ah, of course. When in doubt play the "traditional marriage" card. Folks like Snavely are so heavily invested in "defining marriage" they seem to forget that outside of their semantic culture war, there are actual families at stake. And in this case, a lot of kids.
Second parent adoption doesn't undermine marriage. Clinging to a narrow definition of marriage, not to mention family, does. "Traditional marriage" isn't a magic pill. It's the fiction that if only everyone just found a person of the opposite sex to marry everything would be A-OK that does the undermining.
Marriage is hard work. Gay and lesbian couples know this well as many are persevering with life-long commitments despite the lack of legal recognition they are afforded. Many of these couples have children. And even if Snavely doesn't like their parents, it's hardly fair to punish the kids.

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Topics: Opinions
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