I think it depends on the homosexual couple. Are they openly gay? Are they sleeping around? Will they kiss, make out or have sex in front of the children? If the answer to any of these questions is “Yes” then that couple should not adopt children. The home is too dangerous and morally unsound. Children need to be brought up with good morals to prepare them for life.
But what would make one suggest that gays cannot be morally responsible and avoid kissing, making out or having sex in front of children?
Most couples, including heterosexual married couples, will avoid those behaviors in front of their children, if not on moral grounds then on the grounds of preserving the intimacy of the couple by keeping private the acts proper to a married couple. At most, in most families, kids may see their parents hug each other or kiss briefly when arriving at or leaving the house, with the parents taking efforts to ensure their privacy during lovemaking.
Surely one would expect that a homosexual couple vying for adoption would be able to exercise the same self-restraint? In some cultures it is not abnormal for heterosexual men to kiss on the cheek or hug each other so that is not necessarily a homoerotic act, and the same can be said of women in N. American culture.
I’d like to see you look that 5-year old little girl in the eyes and tell her that she’s going to spend the rest of her life living with two men [or two women] who are living a perverted lifestyle which will cause much riducle and heartache and she doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of any kind of normalcy whatsoever. Oh, and her soul would be at risk, too. Nice. You look that girl in the eyes and let her know…
We are of course dealing with hypothetical situations. However, a 5-year old up for adoption that cannot be placed, is likely already a problem case. The unwanted if you will, and well-established on a downhill course. It’s not as clean cut a situation therefore as you would like it to be.
As far as I know, every single parent living or dead is/was a sinner and in some way manages to pervert the Word of God. Most of us though also have a capacity to love and do our best to do right by our children and I don’t think anything about homosexuality specifically prevents that. One should not underestimate the impact of love and stability on a wayward, unwanted child.
The ideal of course would be to find a loving, heterosexual couple to adopt the child. The world is, alas, never ideal.
The moral Truth, is of course, absolute. But pastoral action, by reason of our fallen state, is of necessity relative.