The state of Virginia has essentially passed legislation making it legal for private adoption agencies to discriminate against LGBT parents. 

This bill would allow agencies to deny couples adoptions on the basis of a conflict with their religious or moral beliefs, subtly but surely pointing to homosexuality. Virginia’s state Senate and House have both passed the bill and Gov. Bob McDonnell has promised to sign it. Virginia would be the second state to pass this kind of measure, second after North Dakota. 

The bill is “the first step toward actually outlawing adoption by LGBT people,” said Sen. Adam Ebbin, the legislature’s only openly gay member. The Child Welfare League of America and the American Civil Liberties Union also opposed the measure. It “in essence codifies state-supported discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, which is not only unconstitutional but also unconscionable as it will deny many parentless children the family placements they so desperately need,” Kent Willis, executive director of the ACLU of Virginia, said in an email.

Children need loving homes. There are plenty of loving parents ready with open arms and open homes. What seems to be the problem?