Testimony Continues Wednesday In Trial About Homosexual Foster Parents

Testimony is to continue today in a lawsuit seeking to overturn a state policy banning households with an adult homosexual member from having foster children. The state`s Child Welfare Agency Review Board imposed the ban in March 1999 after one of its members said that a two-parent home -- with a mother and a father -- was the best place to raise a child. Four people filed the lawsuit challenging the ban. The American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the plaintiffs, says Nebraska is the only other state to ban gay foster parents. Florida bans adoptions by any homosexual, while Mississippi bans adoptions by gay couples. Homosexual rights issues have taken center stage nationally since the Massachusetts Supreme Court issued a ruling legalizing gay marriage. Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox expects to conclude the Arkansas trial by tomorrow. There is no jury in the case and Fox will issue his own decision.