Hopeful signs

Last week was quite eventful and there have been some hopeful signs.

On Monday the government announced no opt-out for adoption agencies. Quite rightly they put the best interests of children first. And at the same time it sent out exactly the right message to other institutions which still discriminate: It must stop now.

The next hopeful sign came Tuesday when I was told by the BBC that there could be some changes in policy, but it's still early days. Some hours later Newsround's In The News messageboard included a thread about gay adoption, which has since developed into a very lively and interesting debate. But threads about gay issues are rare and we still need to know that CBBC boards aren't being selectively censored, for example by removing threads about homophobic bullying etc.

Thursday was the start of LGBT history month, and finally I heard back from some other contacts outside the BBC. There was general agreement that the present policy of discrimination cannot continue.