Fla. Gay Adoption Ban Dealt Legal Blow

Miami Judge Rules There Is "No Rational Basis" For Prohibiting Gays From Adopting Children

Florida's strict law banning adoption of children by gay people was found unconstitutional Tuesday by a state judge who declared there was no legal or scientific reason for sexual orientation alone to prohibit anyone from adopting.

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman said the 31-year-old law violates equal protection rights for the children and their prospective gay parents, rejecting the state's arguments that there is "a supposed dark cloud hovering over homes of homosexuals and their children." She also noted that gay people are allowed to be foster parents in Florida.

Attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union, who represent gay foster parent Martin Gill, said the case was the first in the nation in which numerous experts in child psychology, social work and other fields testified that there is no science to justify a gay adoption ban.

"There is no 'morality' interest with regard to one group of individuals permitted to form the visage of a family in one context but prohibited in another," Lederman wrote in a 53-page decision. "There is no rational basis to prohibit gay parents from adopting."

Because state attorneys immediately filed a notice of appeal, the ruling is likely to set the stage for a battle that could reach the Florida Supreme Court. A judge in gay-friendly Key West also found the law unconstitutional in September, but that ruling has not been appealed and has limited legal reach.

Florida is the only state with an outright ban on gay adoption. Arkansas voters last month approved a measure similar to a law in Utah that bans any unmarried straight or gay couples from adopting or fostering children. Mississippi bans gay couples, but not single gays, from adopting.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/25/national/main4632388.shtml?tag=topHome;topStories 

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{This ruling is important because slowly but surely the excuses used to try and take away Gays rights are being whittled away. Soon those who oppose gay marriage or gay adoption will be left with only their own prejudice to justify their actions. It is nothing but attempting to legislate their own concept of morality but in fact ""There is no 'morality' interest with regard to one group of individuals permitted to form the visage of a family in one context but prohibited in another," Lederman wrote in a 53-page decision. "There is no rational basis to prohibit gay parents from adopting."

Common sense will win out in the end but prejudice is a powerful force and the battle will go on for years. It is a battle not only worth fighting but it is a battle against superstition and darkness that must be won. There are always those who would try and rob individuals or groups of their human rights because they simply can not stomach people having the right to be different. They will fail but they will not go down quietly.

What do you think?}