Arkansas high court strikes down voter-approved gay adoption ban
Image via Wikipedia Arkansas ’s state Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a voter-approved initiative passed in 2008 that forbade unmarried couples, including homosexuals, from adopting or fostering children. The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Arkansas Act 1, was unconstitutional because it violated the rights of couples engaging in sexual activity to adopt. Act 1, which voters passed by a 57 – 43 percent margin in November 2008, stated: “A minor may not be adopted or placed in a foster home if the individual seeking to adopt or to serve as a foster parent is cohabiting with a sexual partner outside of a marriage which is valid under the constitution and laws of this state.” The Act clarified that the prohibition “applies equally to cohabiting opposite-sex and same-sex individuals.” “Act 1 directly and substantially burdens the privacy rights of ’opposite-sex and same-sex individuals’ who engage in private, consensual sexual conduct in the bedroom by foreclosing t