Florida Ruling on Gay Adoption Upheld

Today, an appeals court unanimously upheld a Miami judge’s decision that Florida’s ban on adoption by gay couples
is unconstitutional.

In 2008, Miami Judge Cindy Lederman who ruled, there is “no rational basis to prohibit gay parents from adopting” and stated the law violates equal protection rights for the children and their prospective gay parents.

Today’s ruling reads:

“We affirm the judgment of adoption, which holds subsection 63.042(3), Florida Statutes, violates the equal protection provision found in article I, section 2, of the Florida Constitution.”
“Given a total ban on adoption by homosexual persons, one might expect that this reflected a legislative judgment that homosexual persons are, as a group, unfit to be parents,” the opinion states.
“No one in this case has made, or even hinted at, any such argument. To the contrary, the parties agree ‘that gay people and heterosexuals make equally good parents.’”

You can read the full decision here.

This is a huge step towards victory for the LGBT community in the state of Florida and the state’s children, but it’s expected that the ruling will be appealed to the state’s Supreme Court, as the ban is supported by Florida Attorney General Bill McCullom. It’s also expected that members of Florida’s religious right will work tirelessly to seek a ballot measure that would write this discriminatory ban into the state Constitution.

by Gay Agenda News Team