Christianity and News in Christian perspectives : ChristianMirror - Charity Commission commended over Catholic adoption case

The chief executive of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement is"delighted"that the Charity Commission has ruled against Catholic Care over gay adoptions.The Rev Sharon Ferguson, chief executive of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM), says she is"delighted"that the Charity Commission has ruled against Catholic Care in its appeal to discriminate against gay and lesbian couples who wish to provide homes for hard-to-place children.Ferguson declared that the Commission"had sided with common sense and in support of human rights", and said that the families concerned would provide"loving and caring homes".On Thursday 19 August 2010, the Charity Commission announced its decision to not give consent to the charity Catholic Care to amend its charitable objects to restrict its adoption services to heterosexual prospective parents only.The independent regulator of charities in England and Wales has considered the evidence and the relevant law and concluded that it would not be justified in the circumstances for the charity to discriminate in this way.Ms Ferguson said: “For too long public opinion has been influenced by the notion that lesbians and gay men cannot be good parents and that they would influence the child’s sexual orientation. This unfounded belief is homophobia, pure and simple, and therefore LGCM congratulates the Charities Commission in its ruling."She added: “It is sad and regrettable that Christian adoption agencies have to be forced to enter the twenty-first century. Agencies like Catholic Care should be more concerned to place children in loving, stable, and committed homes, than with hanging on to homophobic ideas.”[Ekk/3]