Church agencies to be exempt from NSW same-sex adoption bill

NSW MPs have been urged by the Catholic and Anglican leadership to defeat a same-sex adoption bill, although the independent MP proposing it said the bill would exempt church agencies.

A letter co-authored by the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell and the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen, arrived on MPs' desks yesterday urging them to vote down the bill, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

Independent state MP Clover Moore moved to shore up support for her same-sex adoption bill by giving church adoption agencies the right to refuse services to gay and lesbian couples without breaching anti-discrimination laws.

"Some members of Parliament have told me that they will not support reform without an exemption for church-based adoption agencies," she told the Herald.

"While the amendments do not reflect my strong belief that there should be no exemptions in the Anti-Discrimination Act, the bill is so important to the security of families headed by same-sex couples that I cannot risk possible defeat."

The convener of the NSW Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby, Kellie McDonald, said the group had argued against the amendment, but was taking a pragmatic approach.

The Christian Democratic MLC, the Reverend Fred Nile, said the proposed amendment would not alter his view.

"I'm pleased that [Ms Moore] is amending it," Mr Nile said. "But it doesn't change our opposition in principle to the objects of the bill. I believe every child has a right to a mother and a father".

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