Lawmakers push to reverse Florida's ban on gay adoption

[wrobert]

Associated Press - March 19, 2008 6:44 PM ET

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Two Florida lawmakers are trying again this year to pass legislation that would open the door for gay people to adopt children.

They want to reverse the state's 30-year ban on gay adoptions. Florida is the only state with such a prohibition.

Senator Nan Rich is pushing a law that would allow a judge to decide whether such an adoption would be in the best interests of a child.

More than 3,400 children are currently available for adoption in Florida.

Gay people can be foster parents in Florida, but they can't adopt. Rich says that doesn't make sense. She also argues there is no evidence that gay people cannot provide a nurturing home.

Representative Mary Brandenburg is sponsoring the bill in the House.

Governor Charlie Crist has said he opposes any change to Florida's ban on gay adoption. He and other Republican lawmakers say a traditional family provides the best environment for children.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 

[wrobert]

I certainly do not want anyone to take this wrong, and I am so Republican that I bleed red.

But isn't a traditional family what created the need for adoptive parents in a majority of the situations?

 

[Turtlehead]

I certainly do not want anyone to take this wrong, and I am so Republican that I bleed red.

But isn't a traditional family what created the need for adoptive parents in a majority of the situations?

sounds like a double standard to me

 

[TooFarTampa]

Associated Press - March 19, 2008 6:44 PM ET

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Two Florida lawmakers are trying again this year to pass legislation that would open the door for gay people to adopt children.

They want to reverse the state's 30-year ban on gay adoptions. Florida is the only state with such a prohibition.

Senator Nan Rich is pushing a law that would allow a judge to decide whether such an adoption would be in the best interests of a child.

More than 3,400 children are currently available for adoption in Florida.

Gay people can be foster parents in Florida, but they can't adopt. Rich says that doesn't make sense. She also argues there is no evidence that gay people cannot provide a nurturing home.

Representative Mary Brandenburg is sponsoring the bill in the House.

Governor Charlie Crist has said he opposes any change to Florida's ban on gay adoption. He and other Republican lawmakers say a traditional family provides the best environment for children.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

OK I'll bite. Fiscal conservative, social liberal checking in.

The problem with this statement is that the so-called "traditional family" pretty much, almost, dare we say it ... no longer exists in many sectors of society. As a parent I tend to agree with this statement by the Republican lawmakers; at the same time, I am friends with a lesbian couple that is doing a fine job raising their non-adoptive children while appearing to follow the highest standards of parenting. (I am not such good friends with them that I know exactly how those children came to be. )

I think "the best interests of a child" sounds like a reasonable solution to me. There are many gay couples who are smart and have lots of love to give, and that seems like a good thing overall.

 

[A Pokin]

Yeah but as your original post states they are allowed to be foster parents but not full time legal parents, how do you justify that?

 

[Alicia Leonard]

Gay people can be foster parents in Florida, but they can't adopt. Rich says that doesn't make sense.

That doesn't make sense to me either

 

[Turtlehead]

Yeah but as your original post states they are allowed to be foster parents but not full time legal parents, how do you justify that?

that was the point I was trying to make

 

[TooFarTampa]

Yeah but as your original post states they are allowed to be foster parents but not full time legal parents, how do you justify that?

This couple to me epitomizes why the law is so unfair. They are what adoption should be all about, and they had to fight the state to keep their kids:

http://www.sptimes.com/2004/09/09/Northpinellas/Gay_dads_get_daughter.shtml

 

[wrobert]

I think "the best interests of a child" sounds like a reasonable solution to me. There are many gay couples who are smart and have lots of love to give, and that seems like a good thing overall.

Exactly. I happen to know a gay couple, who went up north and got married and are now foster parents. They are doing a fantastic job, taking care of a child that for whatever reason, the traditional family of today (single mom and absentee father if she ever remembers who it is) is not able to handle. It would be great if people got married and raised their families in the traditional sense. But they do not, and here you have people who really want to give of their time and money to provide a loving environment, and we let them be foster parents, but will never let them adopt so that they can be a complete family.

 

[scooterbug44]

Too bad many gay couples want to raise kids in the "traditional" sense - they're in a committed long term relationship and want to expand their family to include the next generation.

A lot of social problems could be solved if only people who really wanted kids got to have them!