It’s National Family Week. The President said so. And for the first time ever, he explicitly included same-sex parents in his proclamation. That’s great news — but he could do more.
President Obama wrote:
Whether united by blood or bonds of kinship — whether led by a mother and father, same-sex couple, single parent, or guardian — families are the building blocks of American society. During National Family Week, we celebrate the spirit that moves family members to care for one another, to grow and dream together, and to instill in their children the character that keeps our Nation strong.
He continues, “As we honor America’s families, we must also lift them up,” and mentions several of the things his administration is doing to support families. It’s obligatory political promotion — but what I like better is his next paragraph, where he talks about the more personal aspects of family life, including the idea of creating our own family traditions:
This week, let us renew our family bonds. Whether by sharing a family meal, reading a bedtime story, or creating a holiday tradition, let us carve out a place in the lives of our loved ones. And as we do so, let us resolve that every family should have the opportunity to raise America’s next generation of innovators, scholars, and leaders.
This is not the first time President Obama has been inclusive of same-sex parents. In proclaiming Sept. 28, 2009, as Family Day, he said, “Whether children are raised by two parents, a single parent, grandparents, a same-sex couple, or a guardian, families encourage us to do our best and enable us to accomplish great things.” He also included two-mom families in his Mother’s Day and Father’s Day proclamations in 2010.
He has not clearly mentioned same-sex parents in any of his proclamations of National Foster Care Month (May) or National Adoption Month (November), however, but rather said oblique things like, “We will keep working to ensure every qualified caregiver has the chance to be an adoptive or foster parent” and, “We must do all we can to break down barriers to ensure that all qualified caregivers have the ability to serve as adoptive families.”
That’s all well and good, but with 31 states still not allowing same-sex couples to adopt jointly, and only a handful banning discrimination in adoption or foster care based on sexual orientation (and fewer on gender identity), we could use a little more overt presidential support. More so since there’s a bill in Congress that could change all that and give more children permanent homes.
We know the President supports same-sex parents (and, one presumes, LGBT parents across the spectrum, coupled or not). We know there are 400,000 kids in U.S. foster care system, 100,000 of whom are eligible for adoption. This is no time for him to be vague about one big thing we could do to help solve that problem.