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Gay adoption gets OK

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TIMES WIRE REPORTS

A judge has ruled that a state law blocking gay people from adopting children is unconstitutional, declaring there was no legal or scientific reason for sexual orientation alone to prohibit anyone from adopting.

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman said the 31-year-old law violated equal protection rights for the children and their prospective parents, rejecting the state’s arguments that there was “a supposed dark cloud hovering over homes of homosexuals and their children.” She noted that gay people were allowed to be foster parents in Florida. “There is no rational basis to prohibit gay parents from adopting,” she wrote.

The ruling means that Martin Gill, 47, and his male partner can adopt two brothers, ages 4 and 8, whom he has cared for as foster children since December 2004.

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Florida is the only state with an outright ban on gay adoption. Arkansas voters last month approved a measure that bans any unmarried straight or gay couples from adopting children.

Florida planned a swift appeal of the judge’s ruling.

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