Anti-LGBTQ ministry to host adoption event in Orlando

ORLANDO | Focus on the Family, a global Christian ministry with a notorious anti-LGBTQ conviction, announced that they are coming to Central Florida April 28 to host an adoption event at First Baptist Orlando.

The event is “an opportunity to educate families about the adoption process and connect them with local adoption agencies,” but members of the LGBTQ community are skeptical about inviting the hate group into the community.

In response to the emerging population of gay and lesbian couples trying to adopt, Focus on the Family claims nontraditional couples threaten the fundamental purposes of adoption. Glenn Stanton, director of family formation studies at Focus on the Family, called children of same-sex couples “human guinea pigs” in the “same-sex family experiment.”

Michael Gagne, a 20-year foster parent from South Florida, protested a similar event held by the group in Ft. Lauderdale in 2017.

“When Focus on the Family came to South Florida we protested and spoke out against welcoming hate into our community,” he says. “It scares me that a child would be adopted into a family that wouldn’t be accepting.”

Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family, spoke at a Florida Community Leader Luncheon in Orlando Feb. 16 to educate community leaders about the upcoming adoption event in April. The luncheon was a free informational event meant to encourage local churches to get involved in the upcoming event and help spread the word to their congregations and communities.

Local organizations have been invited to participate in the April adoption event as well, including Community Based Care of Central Florida, the leading local agency for children in the child welfare system. Maureen Brockman, vice president of the Community Based Care Foundation, said their focus is on finding supportive homes for children and events like these are typical ways to reach different church communities.

“We’re only taking one side on this issue, and our side is for the kids,” Brockman says. “We saw this as another opportunity to find loving homes for our children.”

Brockman says Focus on the Family wasn’t part of the conversation when Community Based Care initially joined the event, but they aren’t going to turn down any opportunities to help foster kids. CBC is also planning an adoption event in March, working with inclusive churches and the LGBTQ community as an initiative to promote adoption.

As a previous foster parent, Gagne understands the importance of events to raise adoption awareness, but doesn’t think love should be limited to traditional married couples. Focus on the Family excludes the LGBTQ and single-parent communities, who make up a large segment of society who are open to adopting.

“This is about people who may have softened their language against gay people, but their actions still speak louder than words. Their political action committee funds anti-gay groups continually,” says Gagne. “Even though Focus on the Family doesn’t talk so harshly about gay people, their actions certainly do.”

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