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The
Florida
law
that
bans
gay
men
and
lesbians
from
adopting
children
is
unconstitutional
and
“without
any
rational
basis,”
according
to
a
ruling
by
Miami
Dade
Circuit
Judge
Cindy
Lederman.
On
Tuesday
morning
Lederman
granted
Frank
Martin
Gill,
an
openly
gay
flight
attendant
from
North
Miami,
the
right
to
legally
adopt
two
half
brothers
that
Gill
and
his
partner
fostered
for
more
than
four
years.
In
her
statement
before
a
packed
courtroom
in
the
Miami-Dade
Juvenile
Justice
Center,
Lederman
said
it
was
undeniable
that
Gill
and
his
partner
of
eight
years
have
provided
a
safe
and
stable
permanent
home
for
the
boys.
The
adoption
law
violates
equal
protections
because
it
singles
out
gay
parents
and
their
children
for
no
rational
reason.
“The
Constitutional
finding
is
that
[the
children]
have
a
right
to
permanency.
And
permanency
is
not
achieved
by
taking
them
out
of
the
Gill
home
where
they
are
thriving,
”
Lederman
said.
“I
find
that
the
law
banning
gay
adoption
is
without
any
rational
basis.
It
is
clear
that
there
is
no
rational
basis
to
preclude
homosexuals
from
adopting.”
The
ruling
means
that
Gill
and
his
partner
can
adopt
the
4-year-old
and
8-year-old
half
brothers
that
arrived
on
their
doorstep
at
midnight
during
an
emergency
foster
care
placement
around
Christmas
in
2004.
During
the
hearing
Lederman
legally
changed
the
boys’
surnames
to
Gill.
Gill
was
teary
eyed
as
he
hugged
members
of
his
legal
team
in
the
courtroom.
“I
cried
the
first
teas
of
joy
in
my
life,”
he
said
at
a
press
conference
in
front
of
the
courthouse.
“We
are
elated
and
we
could
not
be
happier.”
When
the
boys
first
arrived
in
his
home
the
plan
had
been
to
foster
the
children
for
one
or
two
months
while
their
biological
parents’
court
cases
were
worked
out.
But
when
the
parents
lost
custody
and
the
Gill’s
family
bonded
about
a
year
later,
Gill
decided
to
petition
for
adoption.
“I’m
not
an
activist,”
he
said
Tuesday.
“The
reason
I’m
standing
here
is
because
I’m
a
persistent
individual
and
I
knew
the
only
right
thing
to
do
was
to
adopt
these
children.”
The
case
went
to
trial
in
September,
just
a
month
after
Monroe
County
Judge
David
Audlin
granted
Wayne
Larue
Smith,
a
gay
resident
of
Key
West
the
right
to
adopt
a
13-year-old
boy
he
had
fostered
for
several
years.
In
a
similar
case,
September
a
Monroe
County
judge
granted
a
gay
Key
West
man
permanent
adoption
rights
for
his
13
year
old
son,
but
the
case
was
heard
only
on
the
county
level
and
was
not
challenged
by
the
Florida
state
attorneys.
Previous
challenges
to
the
adoption
ban
have
failed
in
Florida
courtrooms.
Gill’s
case
was
the
first
time
a
state-level
court
was
presented
scientific
evidence
that
showed
that
gay
parents
were
no
different
from
straight
parents
in
providing
a
safe
and
stable
home.
The
state,
in
turn,
presented
generalized
arguments
that
upheld
stereotypes
of
gay
parents
as
mentally
unfit
and
likely
to
be
drug
abusers
and
pedophiles.
State
Attorney
Valerie
Martin
said
the
state
filed
a
notice
to
appeal
Lederman’s
ruling.
She
would
not
say
on
what
grounds
the
appeal
will
be
mounted.
Gill’s
legal
team
was
led
by
of
ACLU
attorneys,
Robert
Rosenwald
and
Leslie
Cooper.
They
said
they
will
defend
the
ruling
in
Court
of
Appeals
and
possibly
the
State
Supreme
Court.
While
Lederman’s
ruling
was
hailed
as
a
major
victory
for
gay
rights
leaders,
it
still
will
not
change
the
state
law,
known
as
the
most
restrictive
adoption
law
in
the
nation.
The
ruling
is
the
first
time
a
judge
has
struck
down
the
adoption
law,
the
most
restrictive
adoption
law
in
the
nation.
But
Judge
Lederman’s
53-page
ruling
provides
a
legal
framework
to
overturn
the
1977
adoption
law,
passed
in
the
height
of
the
Anita
Bryant
crusade
against
gay
teachers.
SAVE
Dade
board
member
Juan
del
Hierro
said
Lederman’s
ruling
does
send
a
message
to
supporters
of
equal
marriage
rights
in
Florida.
“It
tells
us
that
we
have
to
be
persistent,”
del
Hierro
said.
“It
tells
everybody
that
just
went
through
Amendment
2
that
with
persistence
and
hope
equality
will
be
ours.”
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