Florida Maintains Ban on Adoptions by Gays
The
Advocate, January 29, 2004
Four gay men in Florida seeking to adopt children lost
their high-profile federal court challenge Wednesday. The 11th U.S. circuit
court of appeals ruled against the foster parents, who were seeking to adopt
children already in their care. “Obviously we’re crushed,” said Paul
Cates with the American Civil Liberties Union’s Lesbian and Gay Rights
Project.
Florida is the only state in the nation with a complete
ban on adoption by gays, whether married or single. The law has withstood
several challenges in state court. Florida argued that the state has a right
to legislate its “moral disapproval of homosexuality” and its belief that
children need a married parent for healthy development.
The ACLU represented Steven Lofton and his partner, Roger
Croteau, who are raising five children, three of them from Florida. The
children have never known any other family but cannot be adopted by the men
under Florida law. A second couple, Wayne Smith and Dan Skahen, are foster
parents who were hoping to adopt one child. Another man, Doug Houghton, had
been the legal guardian of a boy for at least seven years. Although the
child’s biological father gave his approval for Houghton to be the legal
parent, Houghton can’t adopt under Florida law. The case gained national
attention after former talk-show host Rosie O’Donnell helped to focus
attention on the battle—and the fact that more than 3,400 children are
waiting to be adopted in Florida.
“We have read the court’s opinion, and we’re deeply
disappointed by it,” said Matt Coles, executive director of the ACLU’s
Lesbian and Gay Rights Project on behalf of the men. “We think the court is
wrong in believing that government can continue to discriminate on the basis
of sexual orientation after the Supreme Court’s decision in Lawrence v.
Texas last summer. We think the court is wrong in thinking that the
Constitution lets the government assume that sexual orientation has anything
to do with good parenting. We are distressed that the court’s decision will
leave thousands of children without the homes and the parents they deserve.”
The three-judge panel in Atlanta said the issue is
properly before the legislature rather than the appeals court. “We exercise
great caution when asked to take sides in an ongoing public policy debate,”
Judge Stanley Birch wrote in a unanimous decision. “Any argument that the
Florida legislature was misguided in its decision is one of legislative
policy, not constitutional law.”
Greg Nevins, a staff attorney with the Lambda Legal
Defense and Education Fund, a gay rights group, called the decision “a grave
disappointment” and accused the court of abdicating its responsibility to
strike down a discriminatory law.
On the other side of the issue, a leader of the
conservative civil liberties legal group Liberty Counsel hailed the ruling.
“In this age of judicial activism, it is refreshing to see a court assume
its proper role and allow the people to set family policy,” said Mathew
Staver, president of the group. “Common sense and human history underscore
the fact that children need a mother and a father.”
Cates said the ACLU’s next options include asking the
federal court to reconsider its ruling or asking the U.S. Supreme Court to
hear the case. “We don’t know what the next step is,” he told The
Advocate.
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