Attitudes to same-sex adoption

Abstract

In recent years, same-sex adoption has become legal in the ACT, Western Australia, New South Wales, and most recently, Tasmania. Although same-sex couples in other states can’t adopt, they can foster children, and single gay men or women can adopt. How do Australian church attenders view these developments in same-sex adoption? Do they support or oppose such legislation?. A national poll conducted in 2013 found that two thirds of Australians either strongly agreed or agreed somewhat that same sex couples should have the same rights to adopt children as heterosexual couples do. This stands in strong contrast to the over two thirds of church attenders who disapproved of same sex adoption in 2011 (although it is possible that views may have shifted somewhat among church attenders in the last two years).