Now that the State of Washington (i.e. King County) has voted to approve gay marriage, it is imperative that the Legislature enact laws to protect children adopted into such unions. In almost every television ad during the election, great emphasis was given to gay marriage as the only solution for gays to have a “family.” In most ads children were prominently included as family members.

Gay persons cannot procreate children from their sexual unions so to create a family they must adopt. Adoption of a child into a homosexual union may expose that child to HIV/AIDS. There are millions of homosexuals in the United States with HIV/AIDS, but screening for the disease is not widely done or routine.

Because AIDS is incurable, children must not be placed in the custody of persons who may be infected. Washington law provides that child custody decisions be made “in the best interests of the child,” and placing a child with an AIDS infected person is not in the child’s best interest.

Therefore, the Legislature must prohibit legal adoption of a child by an HIV/AIDS infected person, and must require that gay persons applying for adoption rights present medical proof that they are not infected. While such a law will not protect the child from the parent becoming infected, it will at least give the child a clean start.

Edward Bell, Kirkland