Arkansas

The Family Council Action Committee recently sent an urgent plea to its conservative supporters - after the group’s president realized his effort is being defeated in fundraising.

NWANews.com reports that the group fighting for gay and lesbian parenting rights in Arkansas - Arkansas Families First - has raised more money in the past month of operation than the FCAC has since July.

A petition drive is underway in Arkansas to force a vote on lesbian and gay parents. An ultra-conservative group wants to prohibit minors from being adopted or placed in a foster home in which a would-be parent is “cohabiting with a sexual partner outside of a marriage which is valid under the constitution and laws of this state.”

The group's called the Arkansas Family Council Action Committee, and it's seeking signatures throughout an established network of churches. It's a political wing of the Family Council.

Hello.. or should I say Howdy!

The ACLU recently released a video production called “Freedom to Parent”.

The two-part video series follows two families as they fight for their right to remain together - to receive equal treatment under the law. Child welfare experts show support for the families and detail the horrific effects of anti-gay laws. The piece describes decades of research on the suitability of lesbians and gays as parents.

Following the release of a new poll, conducted by University of Arkansas, 365gay.com reports that 53 percent of prospective voters would approve the ban, while 42 percent would reject it. Five percent of those questioned either had no opinion or refused to answer.

The poll surveyed 754 adult Arkansans by telephone between Oct. 7-18 and has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.

An AP news analysis warns Republicans against depending on a gay wedge issue to drive their voters to the polls.

After one failed attempt in September, the homophobic Family Council Action Committee got their outlandish proposed initiative approved - which would ban gay and unmarried couples as foster parents.

Now the decision may go to voters, in the 2008 election.

Governor Mike Beebe opposes the proposed initiated act. He says the measure goes too far by placing restrictions on adoption.

The adoption conflict in Arkansas remains unsettled, and the fight will continue until progress is won. But there's another option for lesbian and gay men who want to become parents.