MIAMI — A Florida state judge has declared unconstitutional a 31-year-old Florida law banning homosexuals from adopting children. The attorney general’s office has given notice it will appeal this ruling.
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman ruled the law violates equal protection rights of homosexuals under Florida’s constitution. In the 53-page ruling, Lederman also found the law banning homosexual adoptions “defeats a child’s right to permanency as provided by federal and state law.”
The Nov. 25 decision authorizes Martin Gill, a 47-year-old flight attendant from Miami, to adopt 4- and 8-year-old siblings for whom he has been offering foster care for almost four years.
Pro-family leaders discounted the significance of the case and predicted the ruling would be overturned on appeal.
John Stemberger, an Orlando attorney who leads the Florida Family Policy Council, said the ruling was an example of “classic judicial activism” and illustrates the importance of the Election Day approval of the Florida Marriage Protection Amendment placing the traditional definition of marriage in the state constitution. (TAB)
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