80th Legislature: One Sentence Puts Chisum In Hot Water, Exposes Him As A Flip Flopper

State Rep. and Appropriations Committee Chairman Warren Chisum has found himself in some hot water, thanks to one sentence in an Austin American-Statesman article:

He favors tweaking state law to give heterosexuals preferred status as foster parents over gay parents.

It’s starting to look like 2005 all over again.

As you may recall back during the 79th Legislature, the issue of gay foster parents crept up, caused a lot of hell-raising, and nearly derailed important legislation.

State Rep. Robert Talton (R-Pasadena) jumped head-first into this fray both last time around and during the 78th Legislature.

Last session, he did it with an amendment to SB 6, the CPS and foster care reform legislation that Governor Perry declared an emergency. The Talton Amendment would have disqualified same-sex couples from being foster parents. Though the amendment passed the House, it didn’t make it into the final legislation.

The session prior to that, Talton tried with HB 1911, which died in committee, but not before some hilarious dialogue.

Now, it appears as though Chisum, from his leadership perch on Appropriations, is taking up the cause where Talton left off.

Chisum’s vocal support is not a good omen and could signal another brutal fight. The Texas Freedom Network is already preparing for that eventuality:

Texas Freedom Network President Kathy Miller responded today to a report that state Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, will support legislative efforts to confer second-class status on qualified gay and lesbian families seeking to care for foster children. That support would contradict statements Rep. Chisum made less than two years ago.

“Rep. Chisum should focus on passing a good state budget, not supporting hot-buttons issues that lawmakers use to divide Texans for political gain. The last thing Texas needs is politicians making it harder for child welfare experts to find safe, loving homes for foster children.”

The Austin American-Statesman reported on Thursday that Rep. Chisum, chair of the House Appropriations Committee, will support efforts to give heterosexuals preferred status as foster parents over gay families. Yet numerous studies have shown there is little or no difference between children raised by gay and lesbian families and children raised by heterosexual families. Major professional, community and family organizations from the American Academy of Pediatrics to the American Psychological Association have declared that a parent’s sexual orientation is irrelevant to his or her ability to raise a child.

More interesting than that, though, is that TFN points out that Chisum, the author of the “Defense of Marriage Act,” is actually flip-flopping on the issue of gay foster parents:

Moreover, after Rep. Chisum won approval for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and civil unions in 2005, he said he would not consider foster care regulations regarding gay and lesbian families: “I’m not about to go out and beat up on the homosexual community. Some of them do a fabulous job of stepping in (as foster parents) when no one else will.” (Austin American-Statesman, November 9, 2005)

So, what’s changed for Chisum?

It’s the same thing that’s changed for almost every other Republican. They realize that, thanks to the re-election of Tom Craddick, they may have claimed an immediate moral victory for the right wing, but that they have essentially guaranteed control of the House will shift in 2008.

Thus, this, along with vouchers, has become part of their “last ditch agenda.” The Republicans in the Lege are going to do everything in their power to pass as much right-wing legislation as they can this time because this is likely their last chance. And, of course, once these laws are on the books, they are much harder to remove than pass.