Gay Florida father tells foster sons they will get long-awaited adoption, name change [video]
”It’s been concluded, and we are now asking that the state not go ahead with the appeal — that they just let it lie. In doing so, that by itself will allow any people in any district in Florida to adopt…. We thought it over very carefully before I approached the boys, but last night, I told them that they are going to finally get their new names, and that they are part of our forever family.”
Martin Gill, a gay father who has been battling with the state of Florida to adopt two boys whom. He and his partner had been fostering the brothers but were prohibited from legally becoming their fathers because of a 30-year-old law. (Associated Press)
”It’s a very good day for Florida; it’s a great day for children. Children deserve a loving home to be in.”
Florida Governor Charlie Crist remarking on a court decision in that state that found there is no rational basis for keeping gay men and lesbians from being adoptive parents. It is reported that the state has 30 days to appeal the decision, and the state’s attorney general, Bill McCollum, has made it clear that he believes gay adoptive parents should not be treated as equal to heterosexual couples. (NY Times)
McCollum just lost his bid in the Republican primary to be re-elected, and Governor Crist has quit the Republican Party, instead planning to run as a moderate Independent this year in his bid for re-election. The governor was harshly criticized by supporters of the LGBT community for his conservative stances against the rights of gay couples, and only recently did he make it known that he had switched to supporting adoption rights.
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