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Rep. Michele Bachmann took up adoption as a cause this month in a big way, with everything from a Buzzfeed community listicle to introducing a House resolution "promot[ing] national awareness of adoption." But her colleague Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney apparently found out that Bachmann's bill isn't meant to support all adoptive parents. Specifically, it's not meant to support the family of the openly-gay Maloney, who has three adopted children. According to Maloney, Bachmann "refused" to add language to her bill that would support LGBT families and adoption. Here's how Maloney put it in an email to supporters:
As a father of three adopted children, I couldn’t agree with her more. So I reached out to Rep. Bachmann to ask her to add language supporting all adoptive families, including families with two dads or two moms. After all, family is family, and the thousands of children in our country waiting to be adopted need parents, not political agendas.
But here’s the thing: She refused. She’s intentionally excluding families like mine.
Buzzfeed's Chris Geidner snagged a screenshot of the exact language Bachmann reportedly turned away:
Bachmann did not immediately return requests for comment from both Buzzfeed and The Wire. Update: Later on Thursday, Bachmann spokesperson Dan Kotman told Buzzfeed the following in response to the dispute:
The resolution honoring National Adoption Month is a bipartisan effort sponsored by both Democrats and Republicans. The focus of the resolution is on helping vulnerable children, as has always been the case when we have introduced it in previous years.
Maloney has since introduced his own LGBT-friendly resolution to the House supporting adoption.