WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In an interview tonight on ABC's "Primetime Thursday," Rosie O'Donnell, herself a gay parent of three adopted children, will voice her opposition to the Florida law which bans adoption by homosexuals. "Much of the science and rhetoric that homosexual activists are using to oppose the Florida law is faulty at best and in many cases untrue," said FRC President Ken Connor.

O'Donnell and other homosexual activists make many false claims in the debate over whether homosexuals should be permitted to adopt children:

*Homosexual activists often take issue with the notion that children under their care grow up being deprived of any necessary social skills. "What they fail to recognize is that children in homosexual households grow up without experiencing first-hand three of the most important relationships required for social development-husband/wife, mother/father and male/female," Connor said. "States around the nation should follow Florida's lead in recognizing the benefits of these traditional households containing both a mother and a father."

*O'Donnell points to the "half a million kids in foster care" as a reason to allow gays to adopt children. However, only about 20 percent of those children are actually candidates for adoption. "State governments should seek to reduce the bureaucracy which prevents married couples from more easily adopting these children awaiting a family," Connor said. "States should refrain from enacting policies which intentionally deprive children of having both a mother and a father, because scientific studies prove that those situations are not in the best interest of the children involved."

*Several published studies show that children raised in homosexual households do not fair as well as those raised in traditional family environments. An April 2001 report published in American Sociological Review found that children of gay couples were more likely to be confused about their own sexual identity, more likely to engage in homosexual relationships and more likely to be promiscuous.

*Recent studies that have endorsed adoption by homosexuals have relied on faulty research, including small and unrepresentative sample sizes. FRC's publication, "Homosexual Parenting" by Dr. Timothy Dailey is the most comprehensive expose available on the bad science being used by homosexual activists. You can see Dr. Dailey's report at http://www.frc.org/get/is01j3.cfm

"In a perfect world, there would be no children left in want of a home," Connor said. "But in seeking to attain that goal, children should not be placed in situations in which they have been proven to suffer harmful, long-lasting effects."