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| Former Atlanta City Council President Cathy Woolard was hired to lead the fight against any bill proposing to prohibit gays from being foster parents or adopting. (Photo by R.O. Youngblood) |
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HOME > NEWS > LOCAL
By: ANDREW KEEGAN
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With the 2006 General Assembly set to open Jan. 9, Georgia’s only openly gay state legislator said she is preparing for an “intense” session, and the state’s largest gay political group is already strategizing for a fight over gay adoption.
Rep. Karla Drenner (D-Avondale Estates) said this week that almost any social issue could provide drama during the upcoming 40-day legislative session.
“With Ralph Reed on the ticket it wouldn’t surprise me to see some nastier things than normal this year,” Drenner said.
Reed, a Republican who is running for lieutenant governor of Georgia, served as the executive director for the Christian Coalition during its heyday, from 1989 to 1997. The conservative group was known for mass mailings and voter guides on candidates’ records on such issues as abortion and gay rights.
“There will be a heavy focus on school prayer and the Ten Commandments,” Drenner said. “And sexual predators will get a lot of discussion. Who knows, gays may be lumped in there somewhere.”
Rumors of a GOP-sponsored gay adoption ban continue to surface periodically, according to Drenner. But she said there is no concrete evidence a bill prohibiting gays from being foster parents or adopting will be filed.
“If it does, I expect it will come from the Senate,” Drenner said, mentioning Sen. Nancy Schaefer (R-Turnersville) as a possible sponsor.
Schaefer took aim at gay foster parents in a column published by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Sept. 21.
“To ban children being adopted by same-sex couples is solid policy,” Schaefer stated.
Although the possibility of an adoption ban was rumored at the beginning of the 2005 legislative session, it never materialized.
The issue resurfaced this summer after the appointment of Mary Dean Harvey as the state’s Division of Family & Children Services. She was appointed by Gov. Sonny Perdue and B.J. Walker, commissioner of the state Department of Human Resources, which administers DFCS.
Georgia’s Division of Family & Children Services, which oversees state adoptions and foster care, currently has no rule on gay foster parents or gay adoptions. But Harvey banned gay foster care during her tenure as director of Nebraska’s Department of Social Services, fueling speculation among some gay activists that the state agency, or Perdue, would pursue a similar ban.
Gov. Sonny Perdue, a foster parent himself, reportedly told the Log Cabin Republicans in October 2003 he supported gay adoptions. But he later told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that “children are best served by a mother and a father” and “I do not support gay people adopting.”
Drenner said she is encouraged by the recent decision by gay rights groups in several states to work together to formulate a plan to fight potential bans on gay adoption.
“I’m tired of always waiting around to react to an anti-gay bill,” she said. “I’m in the mindset to introduce bills and have them explain why it’s not a good idea.”
Georgia Equality, a statewide gay advocacy group, recently joined with the Kentucky Fairness Alliance and Missouri’s state gay group, PROMO, in organizing the defeat of anti-gay adoption legislation.
The three groups have hired former Atlanta City Council President Cathy Woolard to develop a strategy to defeat any proposed adoption ban that surfaces in the states.
Woolard was also hired as a lobbyist for Georgia Equality, according to Chuck Bowen, the group’s executive director.
Woolard, the state’s first openly gay elected official, was elected to the Atlanta City Council District 6 seat in 1997. Four years later, she was elected City Council president and later resigned in an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Congress.
Georgia Equality’s office was closed this week, but Bowen issued a short statement on Woolard’s hiring Dec. 28.
“Cathy Woolard will be our lobbyist this session with her primary focus on defeating the adoption bill,” the statement read. “I will also continue in my role as GE’s lobbyist.”
Bowen said the group would release more information about Woolard’s compensation and other issues related to the hiring next week.
Woolard could not be reached for comment by press time.
Another topic expected to surface in the upcoming legislative session is an attempt by state lawmakers to mandate students must have their parent’s permission to join school-sanctioned clubs.
Last year Senate Bill 149, sponsored by Schaefer, and House Bill 149, sponsored by Rep. Bobby Reese (R-Sugar Hill), sought to require parental notification for students to join any school clubs.
Both bills were tabled when the Georgia Board of Education agreed to look into the issue. But the state board voted ...
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