This essay provides general information only. Do not rely on it to determine
your legal rights or status. The legal situation in many states is in a state of
rapid change. We recommend that you seek legal advice from a
qualified attorney.
Legal status of adoption in the U.S.:
According to family-law.freeadvice.com,
"Some jurisdictions (e.g., New
York and California) allow gay and lesbian couples to adopt, others do not, and
in many states, 'it depends' on the judge, the lawyer, and the individual
involved." 1
Status as of 1994:
In their 1994 book on homosexuality, Focus on the Family, a Fundamentalist Christian group,
reported that:
Florida and New Hampshire had laws forbidding adoption by homosexuals;
Arkansas, Missouri, North Dakota and Virginia had legal precedences in which courts ruled that gays and lesbians are automatically unfit as
parents because of their sexual orientation.
California, Minnesota, New York and New Jersey had laws or regulations which specifically permit homosexual adoption.
The remaining 40 states and the District of Columbia had no laws either forbidding or permitting adoption by gays or lesbians individuals or
couples. 2
Connecticut event: year 2000:
On 2000-MAY-2, the state legislature passed a bill which allows
adoption by homosexuals and unmarried heterosexuals. 3
California events, 2001 & 2002:
In Californiathe adoption situation is complex. Since 1985,
"second-parent" adoptions, in which one partner's child is adopted by the other,
had been frequently granted. They are used mainly by lesbian couples. However,
in the fall of 2001, a San Diego appellate court ruled that no legal authority
existed which permitted such adoptions. The legal status of more than 10,000
California adoptions instantly became indeterminate. Pat Logue, counsel for the
gay-positive Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund
said:
"It's outrageous. This decision destabilizes the lives of thousands of
children, exactly the opposite of what adoption is intended to do."
A few months later, on 2002-JAN-1, California law AB 25 took effect; it grants
domestic partners the right to second-parent adoptions. Carole Migden had
introduced that bill to the legislature. She planed to propose another bill that
would "grandfather in" the adoptions made prior to 2002, and place them
on a firm legal footing. 5,6
Developments 2002 & 2003:
2000-MAY-2: CT: The state legislature passed a bill which allows
adoption by homosexuals and unmarried heterosexuals. 3
2002-MAY-3: MS: Governor Ronnie Musgrove of Mississippi signed a bill into
law that bans homosexual
couples from legally adopting children. Religious reaction was split: "The state's top Episcopal leader
urged its defeat. Baptists and Methodists lobbied for it."
3,4
2002-AUG-21: PA: The state Supreme Court unanimously
decided that the existing state law was "absurd." It allowed a same-sex couple
to legally adopt an unrelated child, but prevented a homosexual from adopting
his/her partner's child. This decision overturned an earlier ruling by the state Superior Court
in the year 2000.
2003-OCT-28: USA: The Associated Press
reported that about 60% of adoption agencies in the country accept applications
from gays and lesbians. They were primarily public, secular, Jewish and
Lutheran agencies. However, resistance remains strong
among many other church-affiliated agencies. A decade previously, this
percentage was near zero.
2003-NOV-14: ND: The state Supreme Court unanimously overturned a
1981 decision that had been used to deny lesbian and gay parents custody of
their own children. The decision leaves only four states - Alabama, Mississippi,
North Carolina, and Virginia - where courts still deny custody based on sexual
orientation alone.
We are currently researching events from 2003 to 2008
By 2008-NOV, only two states -- Florida and Arkansas -- excluded gay men and
lesbians from adopting children. However, Florida had allowed homosexuals to become
foster parents.
On 2008-NOV-25, the Florida law banning adoption by same-sex couples was found
unconstitutional by Miami-Date Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman. This followed a lengthy four day hearing
in October during which decades of psychological and sociological studies of parenting by
homosexuals were studied.
Judge Lederman approved the adoption of two half
brothers, aged 4 and 8 by Frank Gill, a gay man who had raised them as foster
children for the previous four years.
The Boston Herald reported:
Gill, 47, flanked by his mother and a gaggle of attorneys, wept in court
after Lederman released her ruling, which said the two boys "shall, from this
day forth" assume new names to reflect their new parentage. The brothers’ birth
parents lost the right to raise them due to severe neglect, records show.
"Our family just got a lot more to be thankful for this Thanksgiving," Gill
said.
The ban on adoption by gay families, Gill said, does not lead to more
children being raised in traditional households, since foster and adoptive
families have long been in short supply in Florida. Instead, he said, "It
results in more children being left without any parents at all. They don’t have
a mom or a dad." 7
Currently, 3,535 Florida children are awaiting adoption after their parents’
right to raise them was terminated.
The state argued that the law promoted public morality and was in the best
interest of foster children who might be harmed by having same-sex parents. They
believe that the law had protected fragile foster children from an unhealthy
"lifestyle."
Judge Cindy Lederman wrote:
"John and James [Doe] left a world of chronic neglect, emotional
impoverishment and deprivation to enter a new world, foreign to them, that
was nurturing, safe, structured and stimulating, They are a family, a good
family, in every way except [in] the eyes of the law." 7
The state has filed a notice of appeal to the Third District Court of Appeal in Miami. Neil Skene, spokesperson for the
Department of Children & Families, said that his
agency seeks "finality" on state
adoption policy. He said: "... we don’t want to litigate this issue every time
there’s another adoption petition."
The case will probably be appealed to the Florida Supreme Court. Governor
Charlie Crist (R) who describes himself as "The People's Governor" will probably appoint two or more new judges to that court in the
near future. Crist has stated in the past his support for the exclusionary law.
Larry Burtoft, "Setting the Record Straight: What Research Really Says About the Social Consequences of Homosexuality",
Focus on the Family, Colorado Springs, CO, (1994), pages 74 to 78
"Big adoption issue goes to high court; Same-sex families to be affected," San Francisco Chronicle, 2002-JAN-30, at:
http://www.sfgate.com/
Barbara Curtis, "Analysis: Gay adoptions get boost from new California law, support from pediatricians," Christian Times, at:
http://www.christiantimes.com/
Carol Marbin Miller, "Judge strikes down Florida ban on adoption by gay
parents," McClatchy Newspapers, 2008-NOV-26, at:
http://news.bostonherald.com/
