People who have concerns about the adoption of children by gay couples are 'retarded homophobes', the state-funded national adoption agency said yesterday.
Those who protest over controversial gay adoption laws are merely 'whinging', according to the British Association for Adoption and Fostering.
Its insulting description angered senior MPs and former Cabinet Ministers, Roman Catholic and Church of England leaders.
It also offended disability campaigners, who have been trying to discourage the use of the word 'retarded' for years. Whitehall has banned the word for civil servants.
New row: The British Association for Adoption and Fostering told would-be gay adopters to not worry about society - 'any critics are retarded homophobes'
Many of those who are worried about gay adoption say that approving same-sex relationships goes against their Christian faith.
Mike Judge, of the Christian Institute thinktank, said last night: 'Christians are tired of being marginalised.
'We don't expect everyone to agree with us but organisations such as the BAAF should try to avoid this kind of language.'
Tory MP Julian Brazier, co-chairman of the all-party Commons group on adoption and fostering, said: 'I work with BAAF all the time and I know how much they bring to adoption.
Disappointed: Tory MP Julian Brazier is 'very sad' the BAAF used language such as 'retarded homophobes'
'I must say I am very sad that they should use this language about people who have an honest disagreement with them.'
Author Patricia Morgan, who has published a study of gay adoption, said: 'It is disgraceful that they do not wish to discuss the pros and cons of gay adoption. They just go in for abuse. They do not appear interested in evidence about the outcomes for children. And it is a disgusting phrase to use.'
The British Association for Adoption and Fostering sets rules and organises training for social workers across the country.
Every local council with a children's services department is a paying member of the organisation, and the bulk of its £6million-a-year budget comes from the taxpayer.
It runs the national adoption register for the Department of Children, Schools and Families.
The 'retarded homophobe' attack was published in a BAAF guide to adoption for homosexual couples.
It was repeated in its newspaper Be My Parent, which advertises children who need homes.
Would-be gay adopters were told: 'Most importantly, don't worry about society.
'Children need good parents much more than retarded homophobes need an excuse to whinge, so don't let your worries about society's reaction hinder your desire and ability to give a child a loving caring home.'
BAAF's Pink Guide to Adoption for Lesbians and Gay Men was written by Nicola Hill, a former Guardian journalist and charity worker. She is featured as a writer on the website of the literary agency Creative Authors Ltd which states she is also the author of A Very Pink Wedding: A Gay Guide To Planning Your Perfect Day. She also co-founded the website gay-friendly-wedding-venues.com.
The London School of Economics graduate lives in London with her partner Laura McCaffrey. Together they run a freelance editorial service.
The guide was launched at a BAAF conference this week aimed at 'overcoming resistance - celebrating the role of lesbian and gay carers'.
The meeting discussed 'what lesbian and gay carers can offer to the adoption and fostering process and how agencies can facilitate their contribution'.
Those attending were also told that 'we will confront the challenges that such initiatives may provoke to established attitudes and assumptions'.
The BAAF's protective attitude to gay couples appears to differ from the way it deals with other people.
Watch your language: The 'retarded homophobe' attack was published in BAAF's Pink Guide to Adoption for Lesbians and Gay Men
The organisation strongly supports the legal requirement that the perceived interests of children are paramount and the wishes of would-be parents are of minor importance.
It insists that children go to homes only of adoptive parents of the same race.
It questions would-be adoptive couples about their views on race and says ' vigorous efforts are made to find a family that reflects the child's individual identity'.
Couples who wish to adopt are often rejected because social workers consider them too old or overweight, or because they smoke.
Some have even been judged to be 'too middle class'.
Until Tony Blair's 2002 Adoption Act, children could be adopted only by married couples or single people.
The new law made it possible for unmarried and gay couples to adopt.
Mr Blair argued that the reform would increase the proportion of the 60,000 children in state care who win new families through adoption.
But the numbers have actually fallen. Since 2004, adoptions from care have dropped from 3,800 a year to 3,200.
The great majority of those are white children. Black children are missing out because there is a shortage of black couples wishing to adopt, yet social workers oppose sending them to non-black families.
There were just 30 adoptions by gay couples and 50 by lesbian couples last year.
There have been setbacks to the cause of gay parenting.
In 2006, gay foster parents Craig Faunch and Ian Wathey were jailed for paedophile offences against boys at their home in Pontefract, West Yorkshire.
The couple had been the first gay foster parents in Yorkshire.
An inquiry found social workers had regarded them as 'trophy carers' and failed to respond to signs of abuse because they feared being accused of discrimination.
Gay adoption provoked a major political row in 2007 when Labour's Sexual Orientation Regulations made it unlawful for adoption agencies to refuse to help gay prospective parents.
Opponents of the move included Cabinet Minister Ruth Kelly, the senior Roman Catholic leaders in England and former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey.
The mother (far left) of children who are being adopted by a gay couple, seen here pictured with her parents, who were told they would never see their grandchildren again
Earlier this year there was a fierce controversy when a Scottish couple said they were warned they would never see their two grandchildren again unless they dropped their opposition to them being adopted by a gay couple.
For two years, they fought for their rights to care for the little boy and girl whose 26-year-old mother, the couple's daughter, is a recovering heroin addict.
They finally agreed to an adoption but were shocked to be told the children were going to a gay household.
When the grandfather protested, he said he was told: 'You can either accept it, and there's a chance you'll see them twice a year, or you can take that stance and never see them again.'
The word 'retarded' has been considered unacceptable for some years.
Advice on 'disability etiquette' distributed to civil servants says it must be avoided in all circumstances. A spokesman for the British Institute for Learning Disabilities said: 'We have not used the term for at least ten years. It is not acceptable to us.'
Comedian Russell Brand was strongly criticised in the U.S. last year for calling George Bush a 'retarded cowboy'.
[Click on the hyperlink at the top to view the comments at the Daily Mail's website.]
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