In the early 1900s, birth records of children given up for adoption were sealed and confidential, an effort to shield mothers and children from the societal shame of being born out of wedlock. Fast forward to the advent of the Internet, and adopted adults used the power of the web to form online networks connecting the community, and as helpful as these support groups were, adoptees still lacked the legal protections to access their birth records. 

Groups like Bastard Nation helped its members navigate access to birth records, as well as fight the stigma of adoption altogether.  It was out of this radical group that the very intimate issue of adoption made its way to the ballot box, begging the question, what are the limits of making the personal, political? This episode explains how this initiative addressed the social stigma around adoption and addresses the longstanding debates around the power of ballot initiatives. 

Learn more about the podcast at thepeopledecide.show and follow us on Twitter @PeopleDecidePod.

Resources

Bastard Nation

Measurable Rights documentary by Paul Fornier/Storm Rock Films

Measure 58 online archive

Adoption Politics by E. Wayne Carp