Gay Adoption Ban in Florida Faces Court Test

Oscar Williams, age 9, wasn’t around in 1977 when Anita Bryant led a crusade against gay rights, but a law passed in that era complicates the future for him and the man he calls Dad.

For nearly six years, Oscar has been raised by Doug Houghton, who first met the boy at a Miami clinic where he worked as a nurse practitioner.

Houghton became Oscar’s legal guardian in 1996. He’s helped the boy tackle health problems and learning disabilities, and wants to adopt him. Oscar’s relatives are amenable, but the state of Florida says no: Its 1977 law prohibits adoption by any lesbian or gay man, the toughest anti-homosexual adoption measure in the country.

In a few months, perhaps by September, that ban will face its toughest challenge--a federal court trial in Key West that could lead all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union and a Florida child welfare group will argue that the law unconstitutionally discriminates against gays and limits opportunities for the 3,000 Florida foster children awaiting adoption. Conservatives say the law protects traditional families.

How the case is ultimately decided could send a signal about the future legality of gay adoption, now governed by a patchwork of laws and policies around the country.

Houghton, one of the plaintiffs, is eager to testify.

“As Oscar grows up, I want him to know I’m his daddy,” Houghton said in an interview at his Miami home. “Legal guardianship isn’t a solid foundation for a real relationship. I have an intangible fear that someone’s going to take him away.”

In many states, adoptions by gays have become common; in others, they remain rare but are not barred by statute. Mississippi and Utah enacted laws last year prohibiting adoption by same-sex couples, but only Florida has an explicit ban extending to all gays and lesbians.

“This statute was enacted out of animosity toward lesbians and gays, not out of any basis in child welfare,” said Leslie Cooper, one of the ACLU attorneys handling the suit.

A quirk of Florida law is that gays and lesbians are allowed to be foster parents. Two of Houghton’s co-plaintiffs in the lawsuit--Wayne Smith and Dan Skahen of Key West--have jointly cared for seven foster children for varying periods over the past 16 months with the support of Florida’s Department of Children and Families.

Skahen, 35, a real estate broker, said he and Smith have watched over children ranging from infants to a 15-year-old, most of them traumatized at their previous homes.

“It’s the toughest thing I’ve ever done,” said Skahen. “You need to be a quasi-psychologist. But we’ve become very good at it. It’s rewarding to see these children progress, to know you’re making a difference.”

Smith, 45, runs a commercial law firm and got involved in the ACLU lawsuit partly out of anger when he realized that his married sister, who lives in Nevada, could not stipulate in legal papers that Smith should adopt her two children if she and her husband died.

He also believes Florida’s law is a disservice to foster children who need loving, permanent homes.

“A lawsuit is tremendously draining--it requires tenacity and commitment to see it through,” Smith said. “But it’s all about eliminating a really bad law. There are kids that are not being taken care of, who have a right to have every alternative made available to them.”

Although the state will defend the law in court, Florida officials have displayed little enthusiasm for it. The Department of Children and Families, for example, takes no public position on the measure.

“If at any time in the future the law changes, the department will change with the law,” said spokeswoman Cecka Green.

Asked why gays can be foster parents but not adoptive parents, Green replied, “It does seem a little bit odd.”

Leaders of conservative groups in Florida believe the law has strong public support.

“People in Florida are in favor of traditional families,” said Terry Kemple, executive director of the Christian Coalition of Florida.

Kenneth Connor, a former Florida attorney who now heads the conservative Family Research Council in Washington, said Florida’s law accepts the premise that children are best off in a home with both a mother and a father.

“The Florida Legislature has said it doesn’t think a homosexual is the appropriate person to adopt a child,” he said. “The perception is, when you’re dealing with a homosexual, that this would be someone who would trivialize the important role that both mothers and fathers play in raising children.”

Connor said adoption is one of several components in a “multi-front effort initiated by gays who seek to wrap themselves in the mantle of the civil rights movement.” When gays decide they can’t prevail in a legislature, as in Florida, they turn to lawsuits “in a bid to overturn the will of the people,” Connor said.

Nationally, gay adoption is one of the most contentious and complex topics on the social agenda.

The Arkansas Legislature rejected an adoption ban this year--although it prohibits gays from becoming foster parents. And last year New Hampshire lawmakers repealed the only other adoption ban that was as broad as Florida’s.

Lisa Bennett, who tracks gay-related family issues for the Washington-based Human Rights Campaign, said 22 states allow gay adoptions more or less routinely.

“The remaining states are just uncertain,” she said. “People in these states who want to do this--do they live in the right county? Did they happen to get the right judge, the right social worker?”

Compounding the uncertainty, some local adoption agencies frown on gay adoption even though many national organizations, such as the Child Welfare League and the North American Council on Adoptable Children, say sexual orientation should not be an inherent barrier to adoption.

There is broad agreement that gay adoptions nationwide are increasing, but no consensus on a number. Bennett said there could be anywhere from 800,000 to several million gays and lesbians with adopted children.

The two sides of the adoption debate argue whether children raised by homosexual parents are better or worse off, psychologically and socially, than other children.

For Doug Houghton, there is no doubt in Oscar’s case. The boy’s biological father dropped Oscar off at the clinic where Houghton worked six years ago and said he was unable to care for him.

Oscar was underweight and below par in basic skills, but is now doing well in sports and third grade.

Oscar is black. Houghton, who is white, moved from Hollywood, Fla., to Miami’s Coconut Grove area so Oscar could attend a good, multiracial elementary school.

Houghton takes pride in being a devoted father; he and Oscar read to each other every night.

“It allows me to experience a part of life that I never thought I’d be able to,” he said. “To teach Oscar about emotions, about life, to leave a legacy, and to do it well--it makes me very proud to see what a good kid he is.”

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American Civil Liberties Union:

www.aclu.org

Family Research Council:

www.frc.org