2005 Adoption Policy Conference

Gay and Lesbian Adoption: Past, Present, and Future

Adoption law today reflects the dramatic changes in and growing inclusiveness of American society. The 2005 Annual Adoption Policy Conference focused on the history of gay and lesbian adoption struggles, the current state of the law, and prospects for legal reform.


The Conference's panels and speakers included:

Welcome and Keynote Remarks

• Diane B. Kunz, Center for Adoption Policy

• Adam Pertman, Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute (EBD)

• Arthur Leonard, New York Law School

The Gay and Lesbian Family in the United States

• Cynthia Russett, Yale University, Moderator

• David Strah, Author, Gay Fathers

• Judith Stacey, New York University, On the Front Lines of the Family Wars

• Scott Ryan, Florida State University, Gay Men and Lesbian Adoptive Parents: Who Are They?

• David Brodzinsky, Rutgers University and EBD, EBD Survey of Adoption Agency Practice

Roundtable on the Construction and Effect of Challenges to the Legislative and State Constitutional Bans on Gay and Lesbian Marriage and Adoption

• Kris Franklin, New York Law School, Moderator

• Gregory J. Wallance, Kaye Scholer LLP, Fifty-State Survey of Gay and Lesbian Adoption Law

• Leslie Cooper, American Civil Liberties Union, Recent Challenges to Categorical Exclusions of Gay and Lesbian Adoptions and Fostering in Florida and Arkansas

• Shannon Minter, National Center for Lesbian Rights, The California Frontier: Litigating Exclusions to Gay and Lesbian Adoption and Marriage

• Stuart Delery, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, Appellate Litigation Challenging Gay and Lesbian Adoption

Gay and Lesbian Adoption in the United States: A Primer

• Jeanne Howard, Illinois State University and EBD, Moderator

• Jane Aronson, World Wide Orphans, Choices in Adoption by Gay and Lesbian Individuals and Families

• Rudy Estrada, LAMBDA Legal Defense and Education Fund, LGBT Youth in Foster Care and Available for Adoption

• Sharon Roszia, The Kinship Center, The Magic of Unending Commitment

• Michael Colberg, Founding Co-Director of the Center for Family Connections, currently in private practice in New York, Being a Child-Centered LGBT Parent