Diálogos sobre la adopción en España por parejas del mismo sexo: el problema de las prácticas discriminatorias.

Abstract

We present a dialogue between Rosa Borge Bravo, political scientist and lecturer at the Open University of Catalonia (Universidad Oberta de Cataluña) and Raquel (Lucas) Platero Méndez, psychologist –political scientist by adoption- and researcher at the Complutense University in Madrid, in which we discuss the issue of same-sex couple’s adoption in Catalonia. We focus on the legal framework and access to rights in Spain and on the field of Psychology as professional practice, in which public policies are implemented. The 2005 Act allowing same sex marriage established requiremets for all (same and different sex) couples, including among other rights, adoption. Nonetheless, adoption regulation is under regional legislation, and therefore face heterogeneous realities. In Catalonia, as well as other regions, adoptions through public agencies are managed by private institutions, and the social intervention is carried out by psychologists and social workers. In this article, we discuss some cases and assesment reports, as well as the questions taken to the Catalonian Parliament and the reports presented to the Antidiscrimination Public Prosecutor Office, in which the difficulties in profesional practice emerge. In particular, the practice of Psychology shows heterosexist and homophobic biases. We will be concluding by presenting some ideas for a queer and critical psychology.