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Cathy James: Local Action Hero
Rachael McGarry, HRC Family Project, April 11, 2008
Cathy James (pictured on the far left with her son, Tyler, and partner, Judy) is a typical Florida resident. She goes to work and attends church. She volunteers at the homeowners association and helps at her son’s school. She shops for groceries, pays her bills and spends quality time with her family. Cathy James is also a lesbian. “There are a lot of different types of families,” she remarks. “We’re just like everyone else. We’re no different.” So why is the state of Florida treating her that way?
Florida is the only state in the nation with a complete ban on adoption directly targeted at gay and lesbian individuals and couples. Enacted in 1977 at the height of the notorious, anti-gay campaign led by Anita Bryant, the law specifically states, in no uncertain terms, that ‘homosexuals’ cannot adopt. Despite challenges by the American Civil Liberties Union and Equality Florida, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ban in 2004. Since the United States Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal, gay and lesbian people in Florida are still prohibited from adopting over thirty years later.
With over 4,000 children in need of permanent, loving homes in the state, Cathy believes the time has come to change this law. “There are people that don’t even know that we can’t adopt here!” she exclaims. By bringing this issue to light, she hopes to secure fair adoption laws for all Florida residents, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Other child welfare advocates in the state agree. Recently, Senator Nan Rich and Representative Mary Brandenburg, two progressive Florida state delegates, re-introduced legislation to allow a judicial bypass of the ban in certain instances. Right now, the goal is clear. “We need to find 83 fair-minded legislatures in Tallahassee. That’s 61 House Representatives, 21 senators, and one governor to repeal the ban on adoption,” Cathy says. She knows it will be difficult, but with the support of her partner of 13 years, she is prepared for the struggle. “There’s a lot of education that needs to go on,” she confesses. “We just need to get everyone to think about a few things.”
Cathy has already started doing just that. An active voice in the GLBT community since 2001, she is an integral member of several parenting organizations in the Tampa Bay area, including the GLBT Parenting Group of Tampa Bay and the Tampa Bay Family Pride Chapter of the Family Equality Council. As coordinator for the latter of the two, she also manages a web-based social group that provides family friendly activities for GLBT parents to engage in with their children. Through these groups, she educates current and potential GLBT parents about adoption issues in Florida. As some of the parents in the group have adopted in other states and since relocated to the Tampa Bay area, there is always and overflow of questions and concerns about how to protect their families. “People are scared,” she explains. “It drives everyone underground.” And as she says, “That’s not good either.”
In 2006, Cathy decided it was time to bring this issue to the forefront. With the help of other current and prospective GLBT parents, she took her activism to the next level and founded the non-profit, political lobbying group, Securing our Children’s Rights (SOCR). Through organized visits to elected officials and active participation at town meetings, SOCR hopes to turn the tide on adoption law in Florida and make the GLBT voice known. As an acting board member of SOCR, Cathy is leading the way. “I’m actively working on appealing the ban on adoption by gay citizens,” she says. Besides this primary goal, SOCR also advocates for the passage of inclusive second parent adoption legislation for GLBT couples. This issue is extremely important as well. “My son is eight,” she explains. “I’m the non-biological mom. I have no legal status in his life.”
Cathy also works with Equality Florida, the Human Rights Campaign and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), or as she puts it, “whoever has something going on.” She readily speaks on the issue of adoption throughout central Florida. “If someone in the Tampa Bay area needs someone to speak on the adoption issue, they call on me,” she says. In September 2007, such a need arose. Working with other Florida activists, Cathy delivered an emotionally empowered address to the leaders of the Family Impact Summit, a three day “pro-family” conference sponsored by a collection of conservative, religious groups against homosexuality. The exchange stunned the crowd into silence and left the leaders of the meeting speechless. “I felt as though I needed to be there to represent my family and let people know that we’re just like everyone else,” she explains. “I needed to challenge the people in the audience to think about what [the panelists] were saying.”
Although dividing time between so many organizations can be difficult, Cathy does it with apparent ease. She attributes her success to two influential Florida women in the GLBT movement: Karen Doering, Senior Counsel of NCLR and Nadine Smith, Executive Director of Equality Florida. Considering these two women her heroes, she says, “They have been very generous and helpful. They get me up to speed and point me in the right direction.” Cathy also looks fondly upon her parents and their influence on her life. “I have wonderful parents who have been married for 58 years,” she says. “They love and support my family in everything we do.” Cathy knows she will need this support as she continues to tackle the adoption ban and contemplates her future involvement in the GLBT movement.
Though adoption remains the imperative issue, Cathy believes “it’s also important for our family to work hard to stop Amendment Two on the ballot in November.” This amendment would define marriage in Florida as “the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife,” and that “no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized.” Says Cathy, “I think as most of the attorneys will tell you, that civil marriage was created for one purpose only, and that was property and how to divide property.” Cathy also contemplates other social changes she wants to see occur in Florida. “I think I might be interested in working with our school board,” she muses. “I’d like to see if there are some areas where we can get some family friendly education… We need to educate our kids to the diverse groups of families that are out there in the world.” Bullying is also on her mind. “Our son’s in second grade… He doesn’t mind wearing his shirts that say: My two moms rock!” she explains. However, like any mom, she worries about what he will hear in a few years. “Fourth, fifth, sixth grade,” she says, “that’s when they’ll start to get tough on each other.” Despite these motherly fears, Cathy’s optimistic. “We have a very good chance to pass an anti-bullying bill this year,” she states happily.
With so much work ahead, Cathy encourages more people to become active in their communities. “I’m very lazy about my activism… I understand when people don’t feel like participating because I was one of them until into my 40s,” she explains. “It’s so easy to stay at home and leave the work to others.” After the birth of her son, Cathy decided it was time to make the transition from thinking about doing something to actually doing it. Now, she urges her peers to do the same and “be out in every aspect of their lives” – home, work, church, school. “It’s our obligation to stand up,” she says. “We need to come out of the closet. We need to say I’m just as good as you - just as educated, capable, loving, hardworking. We want the same things you do.” Until that comes to pass, Cathy says she will “continue to tell people about these 16 terrible words that are in our statute.”
There is still a long struggle ahead, but Cathy James is ready.