Being an elementary school teacher for 15 years I support the proposed adoption regulations protecting potential parents from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender, age, disability, religious or political affiliation, race, color or national origin.

I have worked with children in and out of foster care systems, children from same sex parents, children with parents from two different ethnicities. All of these children were loved and had great role models.

Unfortunately, I have also worked with children that have been abused and neglected and children whose parents are in jail while a grandparent raises them.

The goal in the state of VA is to keep parents with their parents after abuse or neglect if possible after parents seek treatment. Let's face it children just want to be loved and most of the times want to go back to their parents. So if we give parents who have already been brought into DSS for neglecting or abusing their child a second chance; why shouldn't we give people that want to love a nurture a child a chance to do just that? Their race and sexual orientation haven't neglected or abused a child.

In all of my years of teaching children didn't care what color or sexual preference their parent was, all they cared about was the love that was reciprocated.