Miami judge rules against Florida gay adoption ban

[Matt Algren]

FINALLY. It's been awhile since we've had good news.

MIAMI - A Miami Dade Circuit judge ruled today that a gay man and his partner should be able to adopt the two foster children they have raised for four years.

Circuit Judge Cindy S. Lederman "these children are thriving. These words we don't often hear within these walls. That's uncontroverted," said Circuit Judge Cindy S. Lederman.

"They're a good family. They're a family in every way except in the eyes of the law. These children have a right to permanency," the judge said. "The only real permanency is adoption in the home where they are thriving.

"There is no rational basis to preclude homosexuals from adopting," Lederman continued.

When he heard those words, Frank Martin Gill patted his eyes with a folded white tissue.

In 2004, the state encouraged Gill and his unidentified male partner to provide a foster home for two boys. Gill wants to become their adopted father.

"Today I've cried my first tears of joy in my life," said Gill, 47, a flight attendant who lives in North Miami. "We are elated." Gill added: "I wasn't here to make history. I was here to do the best thing for a 4- and an 8-year-old."

A lawyer from the Attorney General's Office, who is representing the state Department of Children and Families, said the case would be appealed.

Some states, such as Mississippi and Utah, prevent gays from adopting by using laws that prohibit unmarried couples from adopting. But Florida expressly targeted gays with its 1977 law, enacted during former Miss America Anita Bryant's anti-homosexual crusade.

Florida Statute 63.042 states: "No person eligible to adopt under this statute may adopt if that person is a homosexual." They can be state-appointed foster parents. They can be named permanent guardians. But adoption is not allowed.

Gill's attorney, Robert Rosenwald of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, said an appeals court and the possibly the Florida Supreme Court would be asked to address the ban on gay adoption.

[CaptainSnoopy]

Very Cool!

[sjbouza]

Well at least someone out there isn't so caught up in all the propaganda. We will see how it holds up in the other courts. Let us all pray that it will stand the test.

I just cannot see the rational anymore. The more I read and learn the more the "equal protection" pops out at me. Let's just say for a minute, and this is just hypothetical, that one does choose to be gay. So what, isn't that their right? Just as it is ones right to choose to be Christian, Buddist, Muslim, Atheist, vegan, etc! We don't strip those people of their rights just because a majority may not agree with their choice. It all comes down to them just not understanding or fearing someone that is different.

It is hard for me to completely relate to a "true homosexual" since I tried to make myself a hetero for so long and "have been there done that" part. But just because a person cannot understand how someone could love another of the same sex doesn't mean that they have less of a right to happiness.

That is my 2 cents.

Peace,
Scott

[pnggrad79]

Oh so they can be parents, but they can't get married. So I guess being illegitimate is not considered a stigma as much as being gay is.

It's funny that in James Dobson's letter to 2012, he is all afraid that Boy Scout troop leaders who are gay will be allowed to sleep in the same tent with young boys. But these same people who ban gay marriage, will allow them to adopt or foster kids? (Sarcastically) If gay people are known pedophiles and lechers, then why the hell adopt kids out to them? This makes no sense.

I guess adopting kids is considered less of a crime against God than allowing two people who love each other to get married.

You can adopt kids and raise them together,you can act like a family, but God forbid you ruin the sanctity of marriage by attempting to get married. You can mess with the family just not marriage.

They give us bits and pieces of it but not the whole thing.

This is really stupid. We can live together, we can raise children together, but can't get married. Can't file taxes together, or anything else that smacks of being together. Dumb, dumb, dumb!!!!!


I am glad they got to adopt these two boys. Maybe someday they can get married. Nonetheless, a piece of paper does not a family make.

[Matt Algren]

Originally Posted by pnggrad79

Oh so they can be parents, but they can't get married. So I guess being illegitimate is not considered a stigma as much as being gay is.

It's funny that in James Dobson's letter to 2012, he is all afraid that Boy Scout troop leaders who are gay will be allowed to sleep in the same tent with young boys. But these same people who ban gay marriage, will allow them to adopt or foster kids? (Sarcastically) If gay people are known pedophiles and lechers, then why the hell adopt kids out to them? This makes no sense.

I guess adopting kids is considered less of a crime against God than allowing two people who love each other to get married.

You can adopt kids and raise them together,you can act like a family, but God forbid you ruin the sanctity of marriage by attempting to get married. You can mess with the family just not marriage.

They give us bits and pieces of it but not the whole thing.

This is really stupid. We can live together, we can raise children together, but can't get married. Can't file taxes together, or anything else that smacks of being together. Dumb, dumb, dumb!!!!!


I am glad they got to adopt these two boys. Maybe someday they can get married. Nonetheless, a piece of paper does not a family make.

Today's ruling is a victory.

Of course some of the laws won't make sense when you apply the nonsense arguments against the others. That's why they call it nonsense.

I honestly don't see any of the laws changing until they're challenged to the top levels on grounds of constitutionality. There's a growing record of judges ruling for civil rights while citizens vote out of fear and/or bigotry.

It's coming. Frustrating that it's taking so long, but it's coming.

[tdogg]

It will also take a US Supreme Court ruling to stop these people from launching an attack on us every time we get one step ahead.

[labguy22]

I just read this on Box Turtle and started crying when I read "The two children are ages 4 and 8, making Frank virtually the only parent the younger child has ever known."

It just scared the hell out of me to think that the majority of people would deny these and other children loving homes because we don't fit their definition of a family.

[Jennifer5]

This is wonderful news!

I hope that they will not be able to repeal this.

[Emproph]

Bill to overturn ban on gay adoptions likely to fade

Some highlights:

Now the state Legislature is faced with a bill aimed at overturning the state's 1977 ban on gay adoption, and Florida's Third District Court of Appeals must resolve a lawsuit over the issue stemming from Gill's case. The case is likely to move on to the Florida Supreme Court...

...The legislation is expected to die without coming to a vote before the Legislature adjourns next week...

...Former state legislator Baxley and other conservatives want the state to maintain its gay adoption ban and support the Department of Children and Families' decision to fight Lederman's ruling and the Legislature's decision for a seventh straight year to maintain the law.

They say it's better for the children to remain in foster care and keep their chance to be adopted by a heterosexual person or couple than to be adopted by a gay person or couple. More than 3,000 children in Florida's foster care system await adoption, most of them having suffered abuse or neglect.

Matthew 18:12

12"What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?

And the social conservative version:

"What do you think? If gay couples can provide loving and nurturing homes to 3000 children, and one of them has the chance to be adopted by a heterosexual couple, mustn’t social conservatives leave the 2,999 to languish in foster care for the chances of the one?”

[bob264]

When I was a kid I was molested by my straight married father, not by the gay man who raised me.