Suit Challenges Mississippi's Ban on Adoption by Same-Sex Couples

Four couples have sued to overturn Mississippi's ban on adoption by same-sex couples.

The couples, all female, filed the suit today in U.S. District Court in Jackson, the Associated Press reports. Two organizations, the Campaign for Southern Equality and the Family Equality Council, are also plaintiffs in the suit.

The suit charges that the ban, enacted in 2000, is unconstitutional in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's June 26 decision making marriage equality the law of the land as well as its 2013 ruling that struck down a key provision of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. Mississippi is the last state that explicitly bars same-sex couples from adopting, the suit notes.

"The Mississippi adoption ban is an outdated relic of a time when courts and legislatures believed that it was somehow OK to discriminate against gay people simply because they are gay," the suit further states.

Gov. Phil Bryant, a Republican, issued a statement saying he hopes Attorney General Jim Hood "will vigorously defend the State of Mississippi against this lawsuit." Hood, a Democrat involved in a close reelection race, declined comment to the AP on the suit, saying he and his staff needed to study it further. Ronnie Musgrove, a Democrat who was governor when the legislature passed the ban, signed it into law but now says he regrets doing so.