sure am glad WE don't live in Florida!
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| Mon, 01-10-2005 - 12:51pm |
Supreme Court Lets Stand Florida's Gay Adoption Ban
54 minutes ago Top Stories - Reuters
By James Vicini
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites) refused on
Monday to hear a constitutional challenge to a 1977 Florida law that bans
gays and lesbians from adopting children, the only such state law in the
nation.
Without comment, the high court declined to consider whether the law, which
was adopted at the height of entertainer Anita Bryant's anti-homosexual
campaign, unfairly singled out gays and lesbians in violation of their
constitutional rights.
The law states, "No person eligible to adopt under this statute may adopt if
that person is a homosexual." No other state categorically excludes gays or
lesbians from adopting.
The law's sponsor, Florida Sen. Curtis Peterson, said at the time the
purpose of the legislation was to send a message to gays and lesbians that
"we're really tired of you. We wish you'd go back into the closet."
The Supreme Court issued its last gay rights ruling in 2003, when it struck
down a Texas sodomy law and declared that constitutional due process and
privacy rights applied to gays in that case.
The Florida law was challenged in 1999 by four gay men, Steven Lofton,
Douglas Houghton, Wayne LaRue Smith and Daniel Skahen, who have been raising
foster children, but cannot adopt them because of the law.
The lawsuit claimed the law violated the right to equal protection of
lesbians and gays who seek to adopt and of the children raised by gays and
lesbians who cannot be adopted by those caring for them.
A federal judge in Miami and a U.S. appeals court upheld the law. The
Atlanta-based appeals court said the issue of gay adoptions should be
decided by the Florida legislature, not by the courts.
Attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union (news - web sites)
appealed to the Supreme Court. They said whether a state can categorically
exclude gays from consideration as adoptive parents represented an important
question of federal law.
They said the appeals court disregarded Supreme Court rulings in 2003 and in
1996 that held that disapproval of gay people is not a constitutionally
acceptable basis for government action.
They also said the law denied many Florida children permanent families.
"This law sacrifices the interests of children," they said. "It is no
exaggeration to say that lives may be at stake here; childhoods certainly
are."
Attorneys for the Florida Department of Children and Families said the
appeal should be denied and that Supreme Court review would be
"inappropriate."
They described the law as related to rational state goals. "Florida's
interest in placing children with married mothers and fathers has been
recognized as legitimate by Florida state courts."

I'm glad that you don't live in Florida, either! I think that's completely unbelieveable!
Hugs!
Hugs,
Sebastian
http://www.facebook.com/sebastianbruce
Kim
Check out my blog
If I can say God made me as I am, a heterosexual,
then homosexuals can say God made them as they are.
Kim
Check out my
Let me get this straight....the guys were approved as foster parents but when they requested adoption they were denied?
SO they were ok to raise the kids, just not "own" any?
Sandr
every great journey begins with one step
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There are numerous studies on children raised without loving families, and children raised in same sex households. They don't care. They obviously don't want to deal with the issue.
How ignorant some people are, frickin rednecks.
Sandr