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Amid debate on gays, Senate panel approves adoption bill

April M. Washington, Rocky Mountain News

Published April 3, 2007 at midnight

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An advocate of traditional family rights argued Monday that gays should not be allowed to adopt because they die sooner, they're criminals, they drive under the influence of drugs and alcohol and they frequently miss work.

Democratic lawmakers denounced the remarks, made by Paul Cameron during a Senate committee hearing on a bill that would allow cohabitating couples, including gays, to adopt.

"Given the . . . testimonies of children with a gay parent, the gay life span, a child is unfortunate with one homosexual parent," said Cameron,a member of the Family Research Institute, a Colorado Springs conservative think tank. "The state should not punish the child by allowing two."

Cameron testified that according to studies conducted in Norway and Denmark, countries where same-sex marriages are legal, married lesbians live to an average age of 56 and married gay men to an average age of 52.

Sen. Jennifer Veiga, D-Denver - the Senate sponsor of House Bill 1330 and the only openly gay lawmaker in the Colorado General Assembly - called such studies bogus and unscientific.

"According to Dr. Cameron, I only have 12 more years to live," she said. "We're simply trying to create a law to recognize the existence of these families. We're not going to cover our eyes and pretend they don't exist. They're out there and in need of protections legally."

The Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee Monday passed the "Second Parent Adoption Bill" on a 3-2 party-line vote, with Democrats and backers saying it will help an array of nontraditional families.

Some adoption and civil rights groups said HB 1330 isn't just about gays. They argued that grandparents, aunts and uncles and other relatives have had a hard time getting government aid and providing health care coverage to children they're raising because of Colorado's adoption law, which allows only married couples or single parents - gay or straight - to adopt.

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