Florida Gov. Rick Scott
Florida was one of the few places that has an outright ban on adoption by gays and lesbians. Now the Florida House has passed a bill to remove that language, which was added in 1977, according to Associated Press.
The ban on gay and lesbian adoption was declared unconstitutional five years ago, and gays and lesbians have been allowed to adopt since then. This would simply clean up the state law, although the legislature had been reluctant to do so in the past.
No Republicans spoke against the amendment, although some voted against it. Some said they didn’t support adoption by gays and lesbians, but were voting for the amendment so the law reflected court rulings and policy.
In Texas, the state sodomy law has been unconstitutional since the 2003 Lawrence v Texas decision. Each legislative session since then, a bill to remove language that has been declared unconstitutional has failed to pass the Texas Legislature, so the law doesn’t reflect actual policy or court rulings.
People have been detained based on the unconstitutional law since then.
In the case of unconstitutional laws remaining on the books, misreading the Florida adoption law could delay an adoption and increase costs for no reason other than bigotry against those trying to adopt.
The bill still has to pass the Florida Senate and be signed by anti-gay Gov. Rick Scott.
