{"id":13512,"date":"2008-11-25T12:23:24","date_gmt":"2008-11-25T19:23:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2008\/11\/25\/florida-gay-adoption-ban-ruled-unconstitutional.html"},"modified":"2008-11-25T12:23:24","modified_gmt":"2008-11-25T19:23:24","slug":"florida_gay_adoption_ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/11\/25\/florida_gay_adoption_ban.html","title":{"rendered":"Florida gay adoption ban ruled unconstitutional"},"content":{"rendered":"

Huzzah<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

A Miami-Dade circuit judge Tuesday declared Florida’s 30-year-old ban on gay adoption unconstitutional, allowing a North Miami man to adopt two foster kids he has raised since 2004.<\/p>\n

In a 53-page order that sets the stage for what could become a constitutional showdown, Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman permitted 47-year-old Frank Gill to adopt the 4- and 8-year-old boys he and his partner have raised since just before Christmas four years ago. A child abuse investigator had asked Gill to care for the boys temporarily; they were never able to return to their birth parents.<\/p>\n

”This is the forum where we try to heal children, find permanent families for them so they can get another chance at what every child should know and feel from birth, and go on to lead productive lives,” Lederman said in court before releasing the order. “We pray for them to thrive, but that is a word we rarely hear in dependency court.”<\/p>\n

”These children are thriving; it is uncontroverted,” the judge added.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Wow — doing it for the children<\/em>. How radical!<\/p>\n

\n

In her ruling, Lederman said children taken into state care have a ”fundamental” right to be raised in a permanent adoptive home if they cannot be reunited with birth parents. Children whose foster parents are gay, she said, can be deprived of that right under the current law.<\/p>\n

”The challenged statute, in precluding otherwise qualified homosexuals from adopting available children, does not promote the interests of children and, in effect, causes harm to the children it is meant to protect,” Lederman wrote.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It’s interesting, in fact, that the ruling focuses more on the impact of the law on children than of the gay adoptive parents. Though they get their time, too, as the judge dismisses the claims from the state that “gay men and lesbians are disproportionately more likely to suffer from mental illness or a substance abuse problem than straight people, rendering them less fit to parent” — which was the only basis they could come up with to shut out an entire class of individuals.<\/p>\n

\n

In a ruling that, at times, reads more like a social science research paper, Lederman dissected 30 years worth of psychological and sociological research, concluding that studies overwhelmingly have shown that gay people can parent every bit as effectively as straight people and do no harm to their children.<\/p>\n

”Based on the evidence presented from experts from all over this country and abroad,” Lederman wrote, “it is clear that sexual orientation is not a predictor of a person’s ability to parent. Sexual orientation no more leads to psychiatric disorders, alcohol and substance abuse, relationship instability, a lower life expectancy or sexual disorders than race, gender, socioeconomic class or any other demographic characteristic.<\/p>\n

”The most important factor in ensuring a well-adjusted child is the quality of parenting,” Lederman wrote.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

The state will, of course, appeal the ruling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Huzzah. A Miami-Dade circuit judge Tuesday declared Florida’s 30-year-old ban on gay adoption unconstitutional, allowing a North Miami man to adopt two foster kids he has raised since 2004. In…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[25,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gay-stuff","category-politics-law"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":26155,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/02\/07\/californias-proposition-8-ruled-unconstitutional.html","url_meta":{"origin":13512,"position":0},"title":"California's Proposition 8 ruled unconstitutional","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 7-Feb-12 10:59am","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes. This.Of course, I expect this to go to SCOTUS, and who knows what will happen there, but it's still a large step forward in equal rights in this country. #ddtbReshared post from +Breaking NewsU.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules that Prop 8 is unconstitutionalSan Francisco, Calif., USATue Feb 7:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43793,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/07\/23\/a-federal-judge-overturns-colorados-gay-marriage-ban.html","url_meta":{"origin":13512,"position":1},"title":"A federal judge overturns Colorado's gay marriage ban","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 23-Jul-14 6:52pm","format":false,"excerpt":"It does't mean anything immediately, as he stayed the ruling until SCOTUS weighs in on the Appeals Court ruling in Utah -- but this sort of slow pouring on of judicial consensus at state and federal levels is bound to have an impact on what the Supremes consider when it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44673,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/08\/28\/marriage-isnt-a-right-its-a-way-to-control-heterosexuals.html","url_meta":{"origin":13512,"position":2},"title":"Marriage isn't a right, it's a way to control heterosexuals","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 28-Aug-14 8:41am","format":false,"excerpt":"That seems to be the core argument made by\u00a0Indiana Solicitor General Thomas Fisher before the 7th Circuit. Sure, marriage comes with all sorts of societal and legal benefits, but the state isn't required to extend it to gays because, well, gay couples can already adopt in Indiana, and, those benefits\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1261,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2002\/02\/04\/makes_sense_to.html","url_meta":{"origin":13512,"position":3},"title":"Makes sense to me","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 4-Feb-02 10:56pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The American Academy of Pediatrics has endorsed gay couples being allowed to adopt children. The policy focuses on gay partners where one member is already the legal guardian of children,...","rel":"","context":"In "LGBTQ &c"","block_context":{"text":"LGBTQ &c","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/gay-stuff"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":45668,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/10\/06\/not-with-a-bang-but-a-refusal-to-take-up-an-appeal.html","url_meta":{"origin":13512,"position":4},"title":"Not with a bang, but a refusal to take up an appeal","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 6-Oct-14 11:42am","format":false,"excerpt":"The Supreme Court has declined to hear appeals against those federal circuit courts who have declared a ban on gay marriage to be unconstitutional. Which means the states covered in those circuits -- including Colorado (http:\/\/www.slate.com\/blogs\/outward\/2014\/10\/06\/the_supreme_court_actually_just_allowed_gay_marriage_in_eleven_11_states.html for more) have to abide by those circuit court decisions.It's an oddly quiet way\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28050,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/05\/31\/doma-ruled-unconstitutional-again-some-more.html","url_meta":{"origin":13512,"position":5},"title":"DOMA ruled unconstitutional (again, some more)","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 31-May-12 11:48am","format":false,"excerpt":"Good. It's the only federal law I'm aware of that trumps a state's traditional prerogative to decide who is or is not married by their law, and for no other reason than folks didn't like the idea of gay marriage. Embedded Link Appeals Court Rules DOMA Unconstitutional The federal government\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13512\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}