But in a shift, the Legislature overwhelmingly approved a bill to grant legal protections to faith-based adoption agencies that won’t place children in LGBT homes. Some faith-based agencies already do not allow gay couples or single people to adopt, and neither bill prohibits gay people or same-sex couples from adopting. The measure’s passage Thursday in the Oklahoma House was even more emotionally charged, with Democrats trying several parliamentary procedures to derail it. Troy Stevenson, executive director of the LGBT-rights organization Freedom Oklahoma, said this year’s shift toward support of the bill was due to the fact that Treat is in line to become the next Senate leader. “But that’s not what discrimination is about.”Despite the bill’s passage, Stevenson acknowledged a shift in recent years in the Oklahoma Legislature toward support of gay rights, even among Republicans.

Source: National Post May 05, 2018 13:52 UTC