Texas bars gay people from adopting

Gill made history last year when Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman struck down a year law prohibiting gays and lesbians from adopting. The Liberty Counsel claimed that the Florida Bar was not authorized to use membership fees in supporting ideological causes not related to the legal profession. When Judge Lederman ruled the state ban unconstitutional and granted adoption rights to Gill, the case was seen as a huge milestone for gay and lesbian prospective parents in Florida, and for LGBT rights activists worldwide.

The case is now pending in the Third District Court of Appeals, leaving the Gill family waiting for a decision. The trial reignited a national debate surrounding gay and lesbian adoption. The U. Census also showed that there are approximatelygay and lesbian families, and that they live in An upcoming U.

Census will be conducted in March of next year and may bring greater clarity about these numbers. The children have been with Lofton and Croteau since they were infants. Bert had been in their care since he was 2 months old; at age 3, he had seroreverted and tested negative for HIV.

Once free from the virus, Bert was considered to be more adoptable. Shot in a span of four years, the documentary closely followed the Lofton-Croteau family in their everyday routine.

What Makes a Family? A Closer Look at Gay Adoption

It also showed the underlying tension between the state of Florida and the family, even though they moved to Oregon, where they eventually adopted two other HIV-positive children, Wayne and Ernie, now 16 and Although the Lofton-Croteau family is filled with love and mutual adopt, a number of organizations decried the couple being adoptive parents, fearing for the safety and people of the children.

In truth, the family is like any heterosexual household; the parents drive their children to school, help them with their homework, ask them to help with the laundry, encourage volunteer work, and support them in their extracurricular activities. All five of their children have always been exposed to female role models, such as their grandmother and their aunts.

Their family is large and well-rounded, from stable and loving relationships— from both male and female role models. Is that a female role or is that a parental role? But the once-hostile environment for gay and lesbian people in the United States is showing signs of improvement.

Legislature is following suit, with a recent bill proposed in October by U. Representative Pete Stark D-Calif. The bill will restrict funds to states that discriminate in their foster or adoptive programs based on marital status, gender identity, or sexual texas. Adoption agencies have also started gay gears.

According to the Evan B. While there are promising changes in the way gay adoption is being viewed and practiced, many people are still staunchly opposed to it. In the Gill and Lofton cases, organizations like the Liberty Counsel, American College of Pediatricians, and the Christian Coalition expressed bars in court about allowing gay and lesbian people to adopt.

Lawyers and experts of the state in the case against Gill presented reasons why children would be considered in danger if placed with gay or lesbian parents. They said that homosexuality would attract unnecessary social stigma to the children and that, scientifically, children could become homosexuals as well.