By Mithran Samuel
The British Association for Adoption and Fostering has caused a storm by including a quote referring to "retarded homophobes" in an early print run of a publication on gay adoption.
Including the quote from a gay adopter, the charity admits, was a mistake and it has apologised for the error (which was condemned as a 'disgrace' by Mencap) and promised that the main print run of the Pink Guide to Adoption would not include it.
The guide is designed to combat prejudices against gay adoption and encourage same sex couples to consider adoption.
"Retarded" - or any of its variants - is clearly offensive to people with learning disabilities and should not be sullying the pages of any publication, as Baaf clearly recognises.
Mencap's reaction is understandable and correct.
However, the criticisms of Baaf emerging from the front page of today's Daily Mail are far less palatable.
While the piece makes a relatively brief reference to the offence caused to disabled people by the quote, (much of which is at the very bottom of the piece) its main focus is the insult to people who oppose gay adoption.
The headline says it all:
Slurred by the adoption Nazis: Critics of gay parenting are branded 'retarded homophobes'
There is of course the odd inaccuracy, namely the fact that the "retarded homophobe" remark is the view of Baaf, rather than a quote from a gay adopter.
The rest of the piece, however, is all about pushing a variety of right-wing buttons which serve to put back the cause of a rational approach to adoption, based on the interests of children:-
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That gay adoption is, implicitly, a way of marginalising Christians.
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That Baaf's support for adoption of children by families of a similar ethnic background is questionable.
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Citing the case of Craig Faunch and Ian Wathey - the gay foster couple convicted of abusing children in their care.
It's just this sort of prejudice that Baaf was looking to combat through its Pink Guide to Adoption.
Unfortunately, by making such a bad error it has allowed the wrong side of the argument on gay adoption to increase its stranglehold on the media debate.
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