The excerpt from a US News & World Report article reminds me why living in Florida, notwithstanding its sandy beaches and year-round pleasant weather (minus the hurricanes of course!), can be such a torment for motherly or fatherly inclined gays. Never mind the thousands of kids anxiously awaiting to be adopted by loving gays. And never mind that these children would be shuttled from one foster parent to another if they don't get adopted. And who cares about the psychological trauma inflicted on these formative minds as they struggle to comprehend the never-ending rupture of family bonds. After all, saving "family values" is more important than what happens to these innocent, unwanted children.
Emerging Gay Adoption Fight Shares Battle Lines of Same-Sex Marriage Debate
By Amanda Ruggeri
Posted October 31, 2008
In less than a month, two little boys in Miami will learn if their foster father can become their adopted dad—or if they'll continue to be wards of the state. Frank Martin Gill has fostered the two since 2004, but his petition to adopt them has turned into an emotional court battle. In a worst-case scenario, they could be removed from his home. The hitch? His homosexuality, which, according to a 1977 state law, prohibits him from adopting children.
While Florida allows gay individuals to become foster parents, it is the only state to explicitly ban them from adopting. Even so, it's hardly alone in attempting to restrict placements to more "traditional" families. Mississippi bars same-sex couples from adopting. Utah prohibits both adoption and fostering by unmarried partners who live together, a de facto ban for gay couples. And in Arkansas, conservatives got the 61,794 signatures needed for a ballot initiative in November on a law like Utah's.
Gay adoption hasn't sparked a full-blown culture war—yet. The private nature of the process and piecemeal adoption laws have allowed it to be overshadowed by its hot-button cousin, same-sex marriage. But across the country, the issue is bubbling up. From courtrooms in Florida to the Arkansas ballot to the Tennessee legislature, gay rights advocates and conservative family values groups are fighting it out.
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