Florida Ban on Gay Adoptions Ruled Unconstitutional
Categories: Adoption, Gay Parenting, In The News
For thirty years, gays and lesbians have been prohibited from adopting in Florida. Thanks to Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman, however, that is no longer the case. The decision came about as a result of a suit filed by Frank Gill who, along with his partner, has been raising four- and eight-year-old boys since 2004. The children were placed temporarily with Gill but were not able to return to their birth parents."This is the forum where we try to heal children, find permanent families for them so they can ... go on to lead productive lives," said Judge Lederman. "We pray for them to thrive, but that is a word we rarely hear in dependency court. These children are thriving." Meanwhile, attorneys for the Department of Children and Families plan to appeal the decision. I guess the department's primary focus is not the well-being of children and families, but perpetuating discrimination.
As for me, I'll side with the judge on this one. She summed it up far better than I could: "Based on the evidence presented from experts from all over this country and abroad, it is clear that sexual orientation is not a predictor of a person's ability to parent."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Janis Keller 12-12-2008 @ 8:17AM
Im not gay, but Im happy about this and Im happy that we have a black president. I am so sick of the baby boomer age racial descrimination. Let's not judge anyone by their race or sexual orientation. Only ignorant people hate. I hope this is a new age. All you people that hate african- american people and gay people, get a damn education and stop the hating!!! Gay people were born this way, and god made them that way. Get to know african american people, most are great people. Everyone is an individual. Believe me, Ive seen lots of white trash. I am not one of them.
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Linda 12-20-2008 @ 4:42PM
OBAMA IS NOT BLACK THE LAW SAYS A CHILD IS THE RACE OF THE MOTHER AND HIS MOTHER WAS NOT BLACK. IF YOU ARE TIRED OF THE RACE ISSUE WHY DID YOU NOT JUST SAY I AM GLAD WE HAVE A NEW PRESIDENT MAYBE THINGS WILL CHANGE? I AM SURE THINGS WILL CHANGE BUT PROBABLY NOT FOR THE BETTER. ALSO GAYS SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO ADOPT BECAUSE THEIR LIFE STYLE IS A SIN. MEN ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO MARRY MEN AND WOMEN ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO MARRY WOMEN. GOD MADE ADAM AND EVE NOT ADAM AND STEVE.
Robert Wayne 1-21-2009 @ 6:02PM
Janis, why don't you go to urban New Orleans and hang around with those noble African gangbangers and homosexual freaks you love so much then. You'd be dead within a month.
Carlos 1-21-2009 @ 5:53PM
For those judgmental, so called religious people, let's be fair.
If gay people are not allowed to adopt a child, then they should be exempt of school taxes included in the property taxes every year and which represent the largest amount of money of the property taxes.
School taxes should be paid only by those who can have the benefit of educate a child in this case the "straight" people.
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sydala 2-02-2009 @ 9:52PM
Foster children have been placed with gays and lesbians in Texas for many years now. It has been quite successful and no different than placing with heterosexual parents. Also, studies have shown that children raised by gay and lesbian parents have absolutely NO greater likelihood of "becoming" homosexual than children raised by heterosexuals. And in the case of these children, THE MOST important thing is to get them into a safe, permanent placement with people who love them and who will care about them and for them and who will not abuse them and neglect them as their family of origin did, and to do so as quickly as possible so that the child will have a longer time to learn to bond as a normal human being. And for all of my fellow Christians out there, whatever happened to "Judge not lest ye be judged," and "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone," and "don't look for the mote in your brother's eye until you've taken care of the beam of wood in your own?" We sure seem to like to point out what we consider to be the faults of others instead of humbly concentrating on ourselves and what we should be doing to show a better example to others. If we spent a little more time doing that, we wouldn't have TIME to notice all the things others do with which we take such strong offense because we would be too busy working on our own issues.
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