Child Advocacy Groups Urge Florida Appeals Court To Strike Gay Adoption Ban
Groups File Briefs In 老澳门开奖结果 Lawsuit
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org
MIAMI 鈥� The most respected Florida and national children鈥檚 health, welfare and legal advocacy groups filed seven friend-of-the-court briefs before a Florida appeals court Monday urging the court to strike down a Florida law barring lesbians and gay men from adopting. The briefs were filed in support of an 老澳门开奖结果 lawsuit that resulted in a Florida juvenile court judge striking down the law and granting the adoptions of two brothers to a gay man who has been raising the boys with his partner for more than four years.
鈥淭he Florida law banning lesbians and gay men from adopting cripples efforts to find families for the approximately 3,500 foster children the State reported were in need of homes and leaves some children without the security of adoption and having a 鈥榝orever family,鈥欌�� said Leslie Cooper, a senior staff lawyer with the 老澳门开奖结果 Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not surprising that so many prominent children鈥檚 advocates are stepping up to let the court know just how harmful this law is to children.鈥�
On November 25, 2008, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Cindy Lederman granted the adoptions of two brothers, ages four and eight, to Martin Gill of North Miami, after a four-day trial that highlighted scientific evidence that gay and straight people make equally good parents. Gill and his partner have been foster parents to the two boys for more than four years, and the boys are thriving under their care.
The decision overturned Florida鈥檚 31-year-old law banning gays and lesbians from adopting that was enacted in response to an anti-gay campaign led by Anita Bryant. The state immediately appealed the decision, and the case is now pending before Florida鈥檚 Third District Court of Appeal. The 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 brief on behalf of Gill and the brief of the children鈥檚 counsel were filed on June 15, 2009.
Because the court file is sealed, copies of briefs in the case cannot be provided without an order of the court. The friend-of-the-court briefs were filed by children鈥檚 advocates from across the nation, including:
Children鈥檚 Health and Welfare Groups
- The Child Welfare League of America (CWLA)
- American Psychological Association
- North American Council on Adoptable Children
- Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute
- Center for Adoption Policy
- Foster Care Alumni of America
- National Association of Social Workers (NASW)
- Florida Chapter of the NASW
- Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
Legal Advocates for Children
- National Center for Adoption Law and Policy
- Juvenile Law Center
- Lawyers for Children America
- National Center for Youth Law
- Southern Poverty Law Center
- Family Law Section of the Florida Bar
- Foster Children鈥檚 Project of the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County
- University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law Center on Children and Families Children & Youth Law Clinic of the University of Miami School of Law
- Florida State University College of Law Public Interest Law Center
- Florida International University Juvenile Justice Clinic
- The Barry University School of Law Children and Families Clinic
- The Nova Southeastern University Law Center Children and Families Clinic
- Child Advocacy Clinic at Hofstra School of Law
- Ohio State University School of Law
- Rocky Mountain Children鈥檚 Law Center
- Loyola Chicago School of Law
- Children鈥檚 Law Center of Minnesota
- Justice for Children Project
- Support Center for Child Advocates
- Civitas Child Law Clinic
- Children and Family Justice Center of the Bluhm Legal Clinic of Northwestern University School of Law
A date has not yet been set for oral argument before the Third District Court of Appeal. For more information on the case, including a video of Martin Gill explaining how this law has harmed his family, visit /gill
Martin Gill is represented by Co-Director James Esseks and senior staff attorney Leslie Cooper of the 老澳门开奖结果 LGBT Project and LGBT Project Director Robert Rosenwald and staff attorney Shelbi Day of the 老澳门开奖结果 of Florida. The children are represented by Hilarie Bass, Elliot Scherker, Elaine Walter and Brigid Cech Samole of Greenberg Traurig, and Charles Auslander, an attorney and former District Administrator for Florida鈥檚 Department of Children and Families (DCF).
LGBTQ Rights
In re: Gill
LGBTQ Rights
In re: Gill
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