Miami, Fla., Nov 25, 2008 / 17:56 pm
A Florida judge on Tuesday overturned a Florida law that prohibits homosexuals from adopting children. Attorneys for Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum immediately announced the state would appeal the ruling.
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman said the 31-year-old law violates equal protection rights for the children and prospective homosexual parents. She ruled that “there is no rational basis to prohibit gay parents from adopting.”
The state presented experts who argued that there is a higher incidence of drug and alcohol abuse among same-sex couples, that they are more unstable than heterosexual unions and that the children of homosexual couples suffer a societal stigma, the Associated Press reports.
The case involved the 47-year-old Martin Gill and his male partner who sought to adopt two brothers ages 4 and 8, whom Gill had cared for as foster children since December, 2004.