A Circuit Court judge in Monroe County, Florida, has determined that the Florida’s ban on gay adoptions violates the state constitution. (source)
The judge wrote that the bigoted law violates the state Constitution “because it singles out a group for punishment.” (source)
“Contrary to every child welfare principle the gay adoption ban operates as a conclusive or irrebuttable presumption that … it is never in the best interest of any adoptee to be adopted by a homosexual.”(source)
Although this is a bright day for equal rights, I wouldn’t expect this decision to have far-reaching effects. This is only a Circuit Court opinion, so it is of no precedential value outside of Key West. I wouldn’t expect it to survive an appeal either. The Florida Supreme Court upheld the anti-gay law in 1995. See Cox v. State Dep’t of Health & Rehabilitative Servs., 656 So. 2d 902 (Fla. 1995). Perhaps this latest case is on different grounds, but I can’t come up with a reason why America’s wang would change its minds in matters of bigotry without being forced to by Union soldiers.
HT: Arthur Leonard
