No More Gay Adoption Ban in Florida

Florida attorney general Bill McCollum announced Friday that he will not that he will not appeal last month’s ruling by a state appellate court striking down a state law barring gay people from adopting.

McCollum’s announcement puts a final end to the law after 33 years on the books. Governor Charlie Crist and the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) had already announced they would not challenge the decision. 

The attorney general had until today to decide whether he would challenge the decision.

“This law, by baselessly branding gay people unfit parents, was one of the most notorious anti-gay laws in the country, and we are delighted that it has been ended once and for all,” said Leslie Cooper, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU LGBT Project, who argued the case before Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal. “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 the love and support of a family.”

A Florida appeals court ruled last month that the ban was unconstitutional, as it labeled gays as unfit parents. The state's Department of Children and Families decided against taking the case to the Florida supreme court.

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