Bill McCollum Won't Appeal Gay Adoption Ruling; Florida's Ban Is Dead

Florida's 33-year-old ban on gay men and lesbians adopting children

is dead following Friday's announcement by Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum that he would not appeal a court ruling that upheld a 2008

decision that struck down the law.

Last month, a 3-judge appeals court unanimously upheld the ruling that

found the law to be unconstitutional and to have “no rational basis.”

The Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) had already said it

would not challenge the ruling.

“Following the decision by our client, the Department of Children and

Families, not to appeal the decision of the Third District Court of Appeals,

it is clear that this is not the right case to take to the Supreme Court for

its determination. No doubt someday a more suitable case will give the

Supreme Court the opportunity to uphold the constitutionality of this law,” McCollum said in a statement.

The decision means that Frank Martin Gill, the plaintiff being represented

by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), can legally adopt the two half brothers he and his partner have raised since 2004.

“This law, by baselessly branding gay people unfit parents, was one of the

most notorious anti-gay laws in the country, and we are delighted that

it has been ended once and for all,” Leslie Cooper, a senior staff attorney

with the ACLU LGBT Project, who argued the case before Florida’s Third

District Court of Appeal, said in a statement. “This victory means that the thousands of children in Florida who are waiting to be adopted will no

longer be needlessly deprived of willing and able parents who can give

them the love and support of a family.”

Gill said he was “relieved” and looked forward to focusing on being a

family.

“Our boys have overcome difficult beginnings to become happy, healthy

kids,” he said. “All children deserve a chance at finding a stable, loving

and permanent home.”

Florida was the only state with an outright ban. Other states have enacted

laws that limit gay couples' access to adoption. Such as Arkansas, which

denies unmarried couples – in a state that bans gay marriage – the right

to jointly adopt children.

ontopmag.com

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