A Stitch in Haste

Since the ruling, by a state trial judge, has not yet been published, there’s simply not enough information for a substantive post.

Here’s the background, however:

–Florida is the only state in the nation to ban gays from adopting outright, although three other states have de facto bans by disallowing anyone other than married couples from adopting. The Florida statute was passed in 1977.

–The Florida statute was upheld by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in 2004.* The U.S. Supreme Court, to the surprise of many, declined to hear the case.

–Lower-court judges in Florida have repeatedly declared the ban unconstitutional. In each instance, however, higher Florida courts have reversed those decisions.

–Although there is little federal case law on the subject of family law generally and adoption specifically, the standard criterion among state courts is of course “the best interests of the child.” That is, however, obviously an open-ended standard, much like “cruel and unusual punishment.”

Again, without the decision in front of me, I would simply step back and suggest that any challenge to gay adoption bans should be based primarily on the “best interests of the child” test, which could only embrace a gay adoption ban if any and every homosexual, in any and every context and relative to any and every potentially adopted child, were deemed, summarily and unarguably, a harmful parent. Only the most demented nutjob bigots go that far. See also Romer v. Evans, 517 U.S. 620 (1996) (expressing animus toward an insular minority is not a legitimate governmental interest).

I hope to revisit the case when the opinion is published. And don’t forget that there is a ballot initiative in Arkansas to ban all unmarried couples from adopting (the target, however, is widely considered to be gay adoption specifically).

*Lofton v. Secretary of the Dept. of Children and Family Services, No. 01-16723 (11th Cir., January 28, 2004) (PDF – 47 pages)

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FUN FACT: Alaska is the fourth highest state in terms of percentage of adopted children (8.6%) in which at least one adoptive parent is gay or lesbian. Only California, Massachusetts and New Mexico have higher percentages. Bet you won’t hear that factoid in any Sarah Palin stump speech. (Source.)

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Previously:
–PSA: New Report on Gay Adoption
–Who is “Shutting Down” Catholic Charities?
–Will the “Black Adoption” Controversy Spill Over Into Gay Adoption?
–Will the Bigots Also Distort “Happy Kids” Research?
–Linkfest: Two Gay Rights Victories (Oklahoma anti-gay adoption law struck down)

Filed under: Gay Rights and Issues, Law, Society, Religion, Culture Wars