Florida Court Strikes Down Gay Adoption Ban

A Florida court has struck down the state's 33-year-old ban on gay adoptions, ruling that the law is unconstitutional and there is "no rational basis" for it. Gov. Charlie Crist says the state will stop enforcing the ban immediately, although he hasn't commented on whether the state plans to appeal the ruling to the Florida Supreme Court, the Miami Herald reports.

"Given a total ban on adoption by homosexual persons, one might expect that this reflected a legislative judgment that homosexual persons are unfit to be parents,'' stated the court, which noted that the law was the only remaining one of its kind in the country. "No one in this case even hinted at any such argument. The parties agree 'that gay people and heterosexuals make equally good parents.'" The case was a hard-fought battle by plaintiff Martin Gill and his partner, who have been foster parents to two brothers, now 6 and 10, but were blocked from adopting the boys. "I'm going to get their birth certificates with me listed as their father. That will be a thrilling thing for me," Gill told AP.
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