Ding, Dong, the Florida Gay Adoption Ban Is Dead

Last week some major and important history was made in the state of Florida. For three decades, Florida has had an explicit ban on gay adoption, preventing scores of LGBT people from becoming legal parents. But that ban was lifted after Florida’s Third District Court of Appeals decision ruled it unconstitutional to deny rights to adoption based on sexuality.

The case was brought to court by foster parent Frank Martin Gill, who wanted legal rights to adopt two kids who had been under his care for six years.

"We are relieved that this process has finally come to an end," Gill said in a statement. "All children deserve a chance at finding a loving, stable, and permanent home."

As a result of the ruling, the check box for sexuality as an identifying characteristic on adoption papers throughout the entire state will be removed.

This victory came after current Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum announced on Friday that his office would not appeal the ruling by the Third District Court of Appeal.

Analysts say that the decision may be appealed by someone in the future, but for now the state of Florida will be able to find homes for the thousands of parentless children with eager LGBT parents-to-be. Oddly enough, the ruling will also help Florida meet a legal requirement of the state to provide a safe home for every child. According to the Palm Beach Post, there have been an increased number of calls to adoption agencies following the lift on the ban last Friday, though the precise impact has not yet been quantified.

Leslie Cooper, senior staff attorney at the ACLU’s LGBT Project told The Washington Blade that, “This law, by baselessly branding gay people unfit parents, was one of the most notoriously anti-gay laws in the country, and we are delighted that it has been ended once and for all.”

The Huffington Post's Carlos Ball also points out that despite the recent frustrations in the plight for LGBTQ rights, “It is important, however, to step back from the day-to-day civil rights struggles on behalf of LGBT rights to consider how far the nation has come on these issues in a relatively short period of time.” Ball reminds us that when the ban first went into place in 1977 there were fewer than ten same-sex adoptive parents on the books in the whole country, as opposed to the thousands today.

Photo credit: ajari