Fla. Adoption Ban Unconstitutional

A Miami appeals court on Wednesday upheld a lower court ruling that found the Florida ban on adoption by gay people to be unconstitutional.

According to The Miami Herald, "The unanimous 3-0 decision deals a critical blow to Florida's 33-year-old law banning adoption by gay men and lesbians, and most likely sends the case to Florida's highest court for resolution."

The opinion stated, "Given a total ban on adoption by homosexual persons, one might expect that this reflected a legislative judgment that homosexual persons are, as a group, unfit to be parents. No one in this case has made, or even hinted at, any such argument.

"To the contrary, the parties agree 'that gay people and heterosexuals make equally good parents.'"

The decision from the third district court of appeal in Miami will allow Frank Martin Gill, the gay father at the center of the case, to keep the two sons he and his partner adopted in 2009 after fostering the boys for several years.

Legal analysts expect the case to move to the Florida supreme court, where it will ultimately be decided.

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