|
|
 Overturning Adoption Ban Federal Appeals Court Weighs Constitutionality of Florida Law Sunshine State Allows 3,400 Children to Languish in Foster Care |
|
Compiled by GayToday American Civil Liberties Union
"We have been working with Rosie O'Donnell since last year on the fight against Florida's gay adoption ban. Because of growing speculation about this, Rosie O'Donnell today asked us to confirm that interviews took place this week with Diane Sawyer for an hour-long program that will air on ABC on March 14. In the interviews, Rosie O'Donnell and one of the families we represent in the case talk about their lives, their families and how they are affected by Florida's law." In a 43-page brief filed today at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta, the ACLU asked the appeals court to reverse the decision of a lower federal judge who dismissed the case before it could reach a trial. The state has 30 days to file a response, and oral arguments in the case will be scheduled for later this year. The ACLU initially filed its federal lawsuit in 1998 challenging the Florida law - marking the first time a federal court was asked the fundamental question of whether a state can broadly block gay people from being parents. The ACLU represents three families in the case. Steven Lofton and his partner Roger Croteau are raising five children, including three Florida foster children. Although the kids -- ages 14, 10 and 14 -- have never known another family, they cannot be adopted by Lofton or Croteau because of Florida's law. Doug Houghton has raised a 10-year-old boy for six years but also cannot adopt him because of Florida's law. The same court that dismissed the lawsuit last year said that Houghton and the boy are just as close as biological parents and their children. Wayne Smith and Dan Skahen provide foster care to various children as needed, but cannot adopt any children because of Florida's law.
The ACLU told the appeals court today that it's unconstitutional for the state to have a law with no basis other than expressing disapproval toward gay people. "There's no question that's what Florida is doing -- and it's exactly what the Constitution meant to prevent," Coles said. Today's court filing includes information detailing the potential jeopardy Florida's law poses for some existing families. On June 21, 2001, according to the legal papers filed today, the state told Lofton it was looking for another family to adopt his nearly-11-year-old boy. When the ACLU asked for assurances that the boy wouldn't be removed from his family until the case is over, "the state refused, saying only that [the boy] would not be taken away until the state found someone else to adopt him," the ACLU brief says. In an affidavit excerpted in today's brief, Lofton makes clear his relationship with the boy: "I have been his parent in every way. For example, every day I wake him up in the morning and help him get dressed and ready to go to school; I help him with his homework when he comes home from school; we have a family dinner every night, cooked by Roger ... I make sure he is safe. He calls me 'Dad.' ... I love [him] deeply and want to protect him. But I cannot protect him unless I can adopt him." |
