Anita Bryant would probably be rolling in her grave — if she were dead, that is. That’s because Florida’s longstanding gay adoption is now as extinct as the dodo bird.
From The Advocate‘s Fla. Gay Adoption Ban No More:
Florida attorney general Bill McCollum announced Friday that he will not that he will not appeal last month’s ruling by a state appellate court striking down a state law barring gay people from adopting.
McCollum’s announcement puts a final end to the law after 33 years on the books. Governor Charlie Crist and the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) had already announced they would not challenge the decision.
The attorney general had until today to decide whether he would challenge the decision.
“This law, by baselessly branding gay people unfit parents, was one of the most notorious anti-gay laws in the country, and we are delighted that it has been ended once and for all,” said Leslie Cooper, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU LGBT Project, who argued the case before Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal. “This victory means that the thousands of children in Florida who are waiting to be adopted will no longer be needlessly deprived of willing and able parents who can give them the love and support of a family.” …
Gee, an Attorney General choosing not to appeal what he considers unconstitutional. A lesson for the Obama Administration and its Department of Justice on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, perhaps? Well, not a lesson the Obama Admin will likely take away from this Florida decision by McCollum’s office.
But, the big winners in this decision not to appeal is for children in that state’s foster care system. A larger pool of loving, potential parents means a better chance for these children experience love, and to develop stable lives.
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