Nadine Smith, CEO Equality Florida
Equality Florida reports that in a stunning turnaround on Wednesday, April 8, the Florida Senate blocked efforts to allow discrimination in adoption.
Florida has been the most aggressive anti-gay adoption state. For years it was the only state with an outright ban on gays and lesbian adopting.
That ban was lifted but legislators have tried to resurrect it this year.
Former Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Destin, eloquently opposed the bill, saying, “We don’t need to turn back the social clock in this state to 1977,” the year Florida banned gay and lesbian people from adopting children.
“This measure allows prejudice to replace the best interest of the child as the standard for deciding who can best provide a forever home for children in foster care,” said Nadine Smith, CEO of Equality Florida.
That ban was declared unconstitutional in 2010.
Here’s a video of a legislator cutting off a 10-year-old who was testifying about his two foster dads. The state separated him from his brother rather than allow his gay dads to adopt him.
