March 6, 2008

A Friendly Audience: Tuke Talks Gay Adoption

From Out & About, Nashville's gay newspaper:

ACLU of Tennessee to host panel discussion on adoption
by O&AN Staff Reports
Posted 02/21/2008

The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee, Human Rights Campaign, Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth, Vanderbilt Child and Family Policy Center, and Tennessee Equality Project will be sponsoring a panel discussion on adoption entitled "The Best Interests of the Child: Adoptions in Tennessee" on Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at the Nashville Public Library's Main Branch.

There will be a reception from 5:30-6:15 pm followed by the program from 6:15-8 pm.

Panelists will include Robert D. Tuke from the law firm Trauger and Tuke and Linda O'Neal, Executive Director of the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth. The event will be moderated by Christine Sun, ACLU-TN LGBT Project Attorney. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call Christine Sun at 615-320-7142.

His thoughts on gay adoption would seem to be newsworthy - especially as Tuke has allied himself with Democrat presidential hopeful Barack Obama, who recently declared his intention to seek repeal of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which prevents the federal government from recognizing same-sex or polygamous "marriage," and says that no state (or other political subdivision within the United States) can be forced to recognize a marriage between persons of the same sex, even if the marriage was concluded or recognized in another state.

Tuke is out of step with the people of Tennessee on the gay marriage issue. In November 2006, a state constitutional amendment defining marriage in Tennessee as the union of one man and one woman was overwhelmingly approved by voters, winning 81.5 percent of the vote or more than 1.5 million votes.

If he's for gay adoption, too, then Tuke certainly ought to tell the people of Tennessee.