Florida currently does not allow gays to adopt. It is the only state in the United States with such a law. On January 10, 2005, the Supreme Court refused to hear a case to challenge the Floridian law. To read the article in the Washington Post click on Gay-Adoption Ban In Florida to Stand.
Update on the Above Law
According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on October 2010, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum will not appeal the September 22, 2010 ruling from the 3rd District Court of Appeal striking down the above law. Therefore, gay people will be able to adopt moving forward. To read the entire article, click on Florida Attorney General Won’t Challenge Ruling Striking Down Gay Adoption Prohibition.
A joint study between the The Williams Institute of the UCLA School of Law and The Urban Institute mentioned the following:
- More than 100,000 foster children await adoption
- More than half of gay men and 41 percent of lesbians want to have a child
- An estimated 65,500 adopted children are living with a lesbian or gay parent
- A national ban on GLB foster care could cost foster care systems from $87 to $130 million
- More than half of same-sex couples have a college degree, “compared to a third of men and women in different-sex married couples, a fifth of single parents, and only 7 percent of those in different-sex unmarried couples”
- Same-sex couples with adopted children have an average annual household income of $102,474. “Different-sex married couples compare at $81,900 followed by different-sex unmarried couples at $43,746 and single parents (including heterosexual, gay, lesbian, and bisexual people) at $36,312 per year.”
The entire study may be read by clicking on Adoption and Foster Care by Gay and Lesbian Parents in the United States.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.