Florida Supreme Court takes up gay adoption advocacy case

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(Tallahassee, Florida) The Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday heard oral arguments as to whether a committee of the Florida Bar Association can present arguments challenging the state’s ban on gays adopting children.

Florida law allows gays to serve as foster parents but not adopt. The law is considered the most repressive of its kind in the country. But a Miami judge ruled in November that there is “no rational basis” for prohibiting gays from adopting children.

The Florida Department of Children & Families and the state attorney general’s office , backed by Gov. Charlie Crist (R), appealed the gay-friendly ruling to the Third District Court of Appeal in Miami.

In January, the Florida Bar’s Board of Governors voted to allow its Family Law Section to file “a friend of the court” brief in support of the gay-friendly lower court ruling. But a conservative group of attorneys challenged the right of the board to intervene in the case. The lawyers are represented by Liberty Counsel, which regularly fights LGBT issues across the country.

The Bar Association, on the other hand, argues that the board should be allowed to present its arguments, saying that the board is a voluntary section of the Bar and does not necessarily represent the full membership of the Association.

http://www.365gay.com/news/florida-supreme-court-takes-up-gay-adoption-advocacy-case/

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