The state’s attorney general will not fight a court ruling that overturned Florida’s three-decade ban on gay adoptions, considered the strictest in the country.
Attorney General Bill McCollum announced his decision Oct. 22, the last day he could ask the Florida Supreme Court to review the 3rd District Court of Appeal’s decision.
In a statement, McCollum said the issue “is a divisive matter of great public interest’’ and eventually should be resolved by the high court.
“But after reviewing the merits of independently seeking a Supreme Court review, following the decision of our client, the Department of Children & Families, not to appeal … it is clear this is not the right case,’’ McCollum said.
The department previously announced it no longer would enforce the ban and was changing its forms so adoptive parents aren’t asked if they’re gay.
“No doubt, someday, a more suitable case will give the Supreme Court the opportunity to uphold the constitutionality of this law,’’ McCollum said.
“Since Sept. 22, Florida’s ban on gay people adopting has been over,” said Nadine Smith, executive director of Equality Florida. “We are pleased to learn that Attorney General Bill McCollum has decided not to squander more taxpayer dollars and muddy the waters on a matter the courts have decided unanimously.”
The Miami appeal court in September upheld a 2008 ruling by a circuit judge, who found “no rational basis’’ for the ban when she approved the adoption of two young brothers by Martin Gill and his male partner of 10 years.
“We finally have finality,’’ Gill said. “The adoption is going to go through. That is a great weight off my shoulders.’’
The American Civil Liberties Union, which represented Gill, initially urged an appeal to put a final end to the issue, but the ACLU and the DCF now agree the ban can’t be enforced statewide because of the appeal court’s ruling.
“This law, by baselessly branding gay people unfit parents, was one of the most notorious anti-gay laws in the country,’’ said ACLU senior staff attorney Leslie Cooper. “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.’’
Howard Simon, executive director of the Florida ACLU, said McCollum’s comment about waiting for a more suitable case is more about face-saving than a sound legal analysis.
“It’s over,’’ he said.
Gill’s two sons, 6 and 10, have been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to use their new last name since the lawsuit was filed in 2006.
“That was when they really kind of got part of what it means,’’ said Gill. “Not having the same last name really does impact the children’s lives.’’
Gill was the boys’ foster parent before adopting them. While Florida law banned gays from adopting it did not prevent them from being foster parents. Since the suit was filed, he noted, the state asked him to foster five other children.
Gill said the appellate ruling already has had a wider affect. As a result of the department’s no-enforcement decision, the Children’s Home Society set up a booth at a recent gay pride event in Orlando to recruit adoptive and foster parents, he said.
The prohibition was enacted in 1977 and court records indicate it’s the only law of its kind in the United States. Arkansas and Utah ban any unmarried couples, gay or straight, from adopting or fostering children. Mississippi bans same-sex couples, but not single gays, from adopting.
The ban didn’t just harm gays, but “thousands of foster children in Florida waiting for parents,” Gill said.
Many gay parents have left Florida so they could adopt, he said. Gill said he’s lived in fear that a different ruling would bring a knock to their door forcing him to give up the children.
“Our boys have overcome difficult beginnings to become happy, healthy kids,” he said. “All children deserve a chance at finding a stable, loving and permanent home.”
McCollum’s decision could harm his ability to win support from social conservatives for any future attempt to revive his political career. He’s leaving office in January after losing the Republican gubernatorial primary.
About 10 members of a South Florida church gathered outside the DCF office in Fort Lauderdale last week, urging McCollum to appeal the ruling.
“The children would be harmed. They would be robbed of their heterosexuality,’’ said Rev. O’Neal Dozier of The Worldwide Christian Center. “The chances are that they will become gay if they’re raised in a home with other gays.”
