An appeals court in Miami shook up the Sunshine State’s political landscape Wednesday by ruling that the 33-year-old Florida law banning gay couples from adopting children is unconstitutional.

The Third District Court of Appeal issued a 3-0 ruling in favor of Martin Gill and his partner, who have served as the foster-parents for two boys. The three judges, who initially heard oral arguments on the case in August 2009, were Gerald Cope Jr., Vance Salter and Frank Shepard.

"Given a total ban on adoption by homosexual persons, one might expect that this reflected a legislative judgment that homosexual persons are, as a group, unfit to be parents,'' wrote the judges in the ruling. ``No one in this case has made, or even hinted at, any such argument.”

“This is just the news that we have been waiting so anxiously for here,” said Gill. “This is a giant step toward being able to give our sons the stability and permanency that they are being denied.”

The ruling likely will not settle the matter. Gill’s attorneys initially intended to take their case to the Florida Supreme Court -- where it could possibly end up on appeal.

Gov. Charlie Crist, who is running in the U.S. Senate election without party affiliation, said at a press conference on Wednesday that he would stop enforcing the current law and was unsure about whether to appeal the ruling.

“Florida can’t afford to give up loving, qualified parents like Martin Gill,” said Howard Simon, the executive director of the ACLU of Florida. “Categorical bans like the Florida law run counter to recommended child-welfare policy because they do nothing but diminish the pool of potential parents who can provide homes.” 

Social conservatives criticized the decision soon after it was released. John Stemberger, president and general counsel of the Florida Family Policy Council, took aim at part of the ruling that opined that homosexuals and heterosexuals make equally good parents.

“The court is completely out of step with the social science research which proves that having both a mother and a father is in the child’s best interest,” said Stemberger. “In every other area of the law involving children the standard is what is in the ‘best interest’ of children. What is stunning is that when gays are involved, the court ignores that common-law standard and panders to this extreme minority group. The court has essentially ruled that two dads are just as good as a mom and a dad. This is empirically false.”

Stemberger also took issue with the claim that there are so many children in foster homes that there is a need for same-sex couples adopting children.

“There is no crisis in the need for adoptive parents,” insisted Stemberger. “Thousands of parents each year go overseas to adopt children and the demand for parents wanting to adopt far outweighs the demand for children to be adopted. Across Florida, people are very frustrated that government is simply out of control. Here again now, the judicial branch of government is defying the will of the people as expressed through the legislative branch. These judicial activists must be stopped.”

“Common sense and human history underscore the fact that children need a mother and a father,” said Matthew Staver, founder of conservative Christian public-interest legal group Liberty Counsel and dean of Liberty University’s law school. “The Florida law seeks to ensure that children are placed in homes that have the potential of a mother and a father. Homosexual adoption precludes children from having parents of both genders. Gender does matter to the well-being of children. Moms and dads are not optional nonessentials in the lives of children.”

Few politicians in Florida weighed in on the decision on Wednesday; however, U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, the Democratic nominee in the U.S. Senate race, chimed in, praising the ruling.

"Today's decision was the right one for Florida families,” said Meek. “For too long, Florida has barred couples from adopting children just because of who they love. While this decision is progress, Florida is far behind the curve when it comes to extending equal rights and protections for members of the LGBT community.”


Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.