In a decision that had been waited on for over a year, the Third District Court of Appeal out of Miami today ruled that Florida's 33 year-old ban on gay adoption is unconstitutional.
However, today's decision does not end the fight to ban the law originally adopted with the help of Anita Bryant back in 1977. Legal scholars have figured all along that the issue would need to be resolved at the state Supreme Court.
The ruling today affirms Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman's ruling in November of 2008 that said the ban violated the state's equal protection guarantees by singling out gay parents (who can be foster parents but are barred from permanently adopting). She ruled in the case for Martin Gill, the North Miami flight attendant who wants to adopt his two foster sons, and concluded there was consensus among researchers that there is no reason to prohibit adoptions by gays and lesbians. Last August, the case went to the three-judge panel at the Third District Court of Appeals in Miami.
The three judge panel with the Third District voted unanimously to affirm Judge Lederman's ruling. Judge Gerald B. Cope Jr. wrote the opinion:
