About damn time....
Perhaps this is the first step....
Court: Florida Gay Adoption Ban Unconstitutional
Frank Gill And His Partner Asked A Miami Judge To Allow Them To Permanently Adopt Two Boys
They Have Been Foster Parents To The Children For 4 Years
MIAMI (CBS4) ― A Miami-Dade child welfare judge ruled on Tuesday that the constitutionality of a state law that bans gay men and lesbians from adopting is unconstitutional and has "no rational basis".
Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman said "these children are thriving. These words we don't often hear within these walls. That's uncontroverted."
"They're a good family," she continued. "They're a family in every way except in the eyes of the law. These children have a right to permanancy," she added, "The only real permanancy is adoption in the home where they are thriving."
"There is no rational basis to preclude homosexuals from adopting," said the judge.
Florida law allows gays to serve as foster parents but not adopt.
The decision was handed down by Judge Lederman on the request by 47-year-old Frank Martin Gill to adopt two young boys he has been raising as foster children for the last four years.
Gill said after the ruling, "I cried my first tears of joy... I could not be happier." He added, "I think it would have been absolutely devastating for them to leave the only home that my little one has ever had."
Two lawyers from the Florida Attorney General's Office said they would file an appeal.
''We respect the court's decision,'' said Assistant Attorney General Valerie Martin. ``Based upon the wishes of our client, the Department of Children & Families, we will file an appeal.''Gill has a life partner who is not being identified to protect the confidentiality of a third child who has his last name.
The boys, now four and eight years old, were taken from their crack-smoking, abusive birth parents by the Department of Children and Family Services.
A judge in Key West ruled in September that the ban was unconstitutional, but that ruling has had limited legal impact.
The American Civil Liberties Union has sided with Gill in the case and claims the state law is unconstitutional. The ACLU says there is a shortage of parents for adoptions in Florida, where at a given time there are about 1,000 children waiting to be adopted.
Outside the courthouse, Gill reiterated the point, saying "I care about other gays and lesbians; but to be very honest, I care more about the three thousand five hundred and thirty-five kids who are sitting with no parents to adopt them."
.
Court: Florida Gay Adoption Ban Unconstitutional
Frank Gill And His Partner Asked A Miami Judge To Allow Them To Permanently Adopt Two Boys
They Have Been Foster Parents To The Children For 4 Years
MIAMI (CBS4) ― A Miami-Dade child welfare judge ruled on Tuesday that the constitutionality of a state law that bans gay men and lesbians from adopting is unconstitutional and has "no rational basis".
Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman said "these children are thriving. These words we don't often hear within these walls. That's uncontroverted."
"They're a good family," she continued. "They're a family in every way except in the eyes of the law. These children have a right to permanancy," she added, "The only real permanancy is adoption in the home where they are thriving."
"There is no rational basis to preclude homosexuals from adopting," said the judge.
Florida law allows gays to serve as foster parents but not adopt.
The decision was handed down by Judge Lederman on the request by 47-year-old Frank Martin Gill to adopt two young boys he has been raising as foster children for the last four years.
Gill said after the ruling, "I cried my first tears of joy... I could not be happier." He added, "I think it would have been absolutely devastating for them to leave the only home that my little one has ever had."
Two lawyers from the Florida Attorney General's Office said they would file an appeal.
''We respect the court's decision,'' said Assistant Attorney General Valerie Martin. ``Based upon the wishes of our client, the Department of Children & Families, we will file an appeal.''Gill has a life partner who is not being identified to protect the confidentiality of a third child who has his last name.
The boys, now four and eight years old, were taken from their crack-smoking, abusive birth parents by the Department of Children and Family Services.
A judge in Key West ruled in September that the ban was unconstitutional, but that ruling has had limited legal impact.
The American Civil Liberties Union has sided with Gill in the case and claims the state law is unconstitutional. The ACLU says there is a shortage of parents for adoptions in Florida, where at a given time there are about 1,000 children waiting to be adopted.
Outside the courthouse, Gill reiterated the point, saying "I care about other gays and lesbians; but to be very honest, I care more about the three thousand five hundred and thirty-five kids who are sitting with no parents to adopt them."
.