Florida AG lets adoption ruling stand

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum orchestrated the end of Florida's ban on adoption by gay and lesbian couples on Friday, Oct. 22, when he decided not to appeal a ruling stating that the ban -- which has been in place for 33 years -- is unconstitutional. Florida was the only state in America that legally disallowed any and all LGBT parents from adopting, although they could be foster parents.

The court ruling came down in the name of plaintiff Frank Martin Gill, who filed the suit in order to be able to legally adopt his two foster sons.

"I know that gays and lesbians can be good parents," Gill, 49, told Miami's Sun Sentinel. "I really was just doing what was best for my kids...but as of today, there is no state that has a categorical ban on gays adopting. Florida was the only blanket ban and now it's gone. I'm hoping there's no going back."

Leslie Cooper, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who argued on behalf of Gill in the appellate court, told the Sun Sentinel, "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 who can give them love and support of a family."

"For far too long, senseless discrimination has prevented children in Florida from receiving the stability and permanence they so desperately need," said Rea Carey, Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. "We applaud Florida's attorney general for doing the right thing and not appealing this ruling. This decision means that more children will be allowed to be part of a loving and permanent home."