Gay Today: World

Federal Judge OKs
Challenge to Florida's Adoption Ban

Compiled By GayToday

Key West, Florida-- A federal judge yesterday ruled that the American Civil Liberties Union's challenge to Florida's state law banning lesbian and gay adoption can proceed, rejecting the state's request to dismiss the lawsuit summarily.

Yesterday's decision is particularly significant because it comes on the heels of the Mississippi State Senate's vote last week to ban lesbian and gay couples from adopting. The governor is expected to sign that bill into law. Earlier this year, Utah passed a ban on adoption by all unmarried couples.

"We are especially pleased with today's ruling because as this case progresses, the nation will have an opportunity to see that banning lesbian and gay adoption is not just bad policy -- it's unconstitutional," said Michael Adams, Associate Director of the ACLU's Lesbian and Gay Rights Project.

The class action lawsuit challenges the adoption ban on behalf of children who are being denied loving adoptive homes and on behalf of the gay men and lesbians who wish to adopt them. Children First Project, a Florida advocacy organization, is representing the children in the case, and the ACLU is representing the adults.

The groups charge that the law ignores the best interests of children by precluding an entire class of qualified adults from adopting, rather than making adoption decisions on a case-by-case basis. Further, the lawsuit claims that the discriminatory adoption policy violates both the children's and adults' constitutional rights to equal protection, privacy, intimate association and family integrity.

In court arguments to dismiss the case last month, the state contended that the plaintiffs had not actually applied to adopt, and therefore could not show that they were impacted by the adoption ban. The state also defended the adoption ban on "moral" grounds and claimed that the gay families in the case were not entitled to legal protection.

Related Stories from the GayToday Archive:
Mississippi Prepares to Ban Adoptions by Gay Men & Lesbians

One of Daughter's Two Mommies Can't See Her Again

Dr. Laura Suggests 14-Year-Old Girl Be Sacrificed or Adopted

Related Sites:
American Civil Liberties Union

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In today's decision, U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King did not address the state's morality claim, focusing only on which plaintiffs had formally submitted adoption applications. Although the ACLU took the position that the adoption ban made the applications futile, the court said it wanted the applications submitted nonetheless and allowed 30 days for this to happen. "The plaintiffs began filling out the necessary paperwork this morning, and it will be submitted as soon as it is ready," Adams said. "This case moves forward on its merits."

The case is Lofton v. Butterworth. Complete information on the case -- and lesbian and gay adoption in general -- is available on the ACLU's web site, www.aclu.org.