Florida adoption ban update.

We’ve been keeping track of this at SoulForce, so the following is based on the highlights of that thread.
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Thanks to Anita Bryant and her “fans,” there’s been a gay adoption ban in Florida since 1977.
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Last November, an Orlando Sentinel published an article titled: “Miami judge rules against Florida gay adoption ban”

“A Miami Dade Circuit judge [Cindy S. Lederman] ruled today that a gay man and his partner should be able to adopt the two foster children they have raised for four years. [Saying,] “There is no rational basis to preclude homosexuals from adopting”

That article is now gone from the original link. Fortunately, Matt Algren who started the thread, published it in full on SoulForce (linked above) and on his blog, and just in case you think I’m a lying because I’m a militant homosexual activist, here’s a Google search on the matter. Go nuts.
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Frank Martin Gill and his partner have been taking care of these kids for years now, and asked the ACLU to help them adopt the boys. Here’s a brief profile on the family:

Fighting Florida's Gay Adoption Ban
ACLULGBT November 25, 2008



And here’s a news clip of the event:

Florida Gay Adoption Ban Unconstitutional
seth3481 November 25, 2008



For the record, you can see my transcription of the news clip here.

The salient point is thus:

Reporter Gary Nelson: Well this ruling here in Miami Dade County today sets a precedent, one that the state’s conservative Attorney General promised to immediately appeal.

Voiceover: But the ink was scarcely dry on Judge Lederman’s ruling when the state announced a challenge.

State's Spokeswoman: We have filed a notice of appeal with the court, on this order already this morning.

On December 11th, of last year, Mike Thomas of the Orlando Sentinel, wrote a commentary titled: “State’s hypocrisy on gay adoptions could tear apart this family

This article also disappeared. At the time, I emailed Mike Thomas about the missing article, and did not receive a reply. So I then found the cached versions, which have now also disappeared.

Fortunately, Matt took screen caps of the article: Page 1 and Page 2.

I don’t know if “politics” were involved in the deletion of those articles (and the cached pages of the commentary), but there are a few things of interest to note.

Mike Thomas: The attorney general's main expert witnesses was George Rekers, a Miami clinical psychologist and Baptist minister who believes gays are immoral and has written that gay activists are trying to legalize pedophilia. He argues gays are more prone to depressive disorders, substance abuse and unstable relationships, disqualifying them as adoptive parents.

He adds that the state paid $60,000 for Rekers’ quack testimony.

And as BoxTurtleBulletin points out:

Lawyers for the state of Florida immediately said they would appeal the ruling. During the hearings, attorneys for the state brought in so-called “experts” George Rekers and Walter Schumm, both of whom are closely associated with Paul Cameron. Rekers used his own particular brand of junk science to support the state’s position that gays should be barred from adopting, adding that he believed the ban should extend to Native Americans for the same reasons.

Now, these are the portions of Mike Thomas’ commentary that caught my eye:

DCF is fighting Gill because it fears a political backlash from social conservatives if he is allowed to adopt the boys. They could bring intense political pressure to ban gay foster parents. That would be devastating, particularly as the economy worsens, the number of abuse cases rises and the state's resources dwindle.

This is not about what's best for kids. It's a political agenda by people who consider homosexuals sinful deviants. And the image of gays living in stable relationships, driving minivans, and caring for damaged children undercuts their cause and their moral superiority.
And now among their allies they can include DCF Secretary George Sheldon, Gov. Charlie Crist and Attorney General Bill McCollum.

Enough to make you wanna puke.

Finally, I found this article today, from Tampa Bay Online:

Bill to overturn ban on gay adoptions likely to fade

Now the state Legislature is faced with a bill aimed at overturning the state's 1977 ban on gay adoption, and Florida's Third District Court of Appeals must resolve a lawsuit over the issue stemming from Gill's case. The case is likely to move on to the Florida Supreme Court...

...The legislation is expected to die without coming to a vote before the Legislature adjourns next week...

...Former state legislator Baxley and other conservatives want the state to maintain its gay adoption ban and support the Department of Children and Families' decision to fight Lederman's ruling and the Legislature's decision for a seventh straight year to maintain the law.

They say it's better for the children to remain in foster care and keep their chance to be adopted by a heterosexual person or couple than to be adopted by a gay person or couple. More than 3,000 children in Florida's foster care system await adoption, most of them having suffered abuse or neglect.

That last part kind of reminds me of Matthew 18:12:

"What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?”

The Christian conservative version might go something like this:

"What do you think? If gay couples can provide loving and nurturing homes to 3000 children, and one of them has the chance to be adopted by a heterosexual couple, wouldn’t Christian conservatives leave the 2,999 to languish in foster care for the chances of that one?”

Finally! Florida Amendment 2 list of donors.

From the Bilerico Project: Map Showing Supporters of Florida's Amendment 2 Hits the Web
Filed by: Waymon Hudson
February 7, 2009 1:00 PM

A new website called Marriage4All.org has launched with a handy, searchable database and map so you can find out who in your area gave money to take away the rights of others. But this site provides more than just names of contributors, it also has information on conflict resolution and how to approach those around you to talk about the real impact of Amendment 2.

It's not retribution, it's about changing minds and holding people accountable.

From Marriage4All.org

This website was created in response to the passage of Amendment 2 in the State of Florida. In November 2008, Amendment 2 was passed with 62.1% of the vote. This action by Florida voters has enshrined hatred and discrimination as a part of the Florida Constitution.

Amendment 2:
"This amendment protects marriage as the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife and provides that no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized."

Related links:

Those who signed the Amendment 2 petition:
http://knowthyneighbor.org/florida/

John Stemberger's Florida4marriage used "Dutch Study" to dupe gullible pastors and church goers.

John Stemberger: “If I blow my brains out”.

Quick, look over here, it's all about gays!

John Stemberger's Florida4marriage used "Dutch Study" to dupe gullible pastors and church goers.

From the now defunct florida4marriage.org, led by John Stemberger -- leader of the Florida anti-marriage movement -- the "Dutch Study" (Via Glenn Stanton of Focus of the Family) was used to portray gay people as being inherently promiscuous:

Is Marriage in Jeopardy?
August 27, 2003
by Glenn T. Stanton

Q: But doesn’t expanding marriage to include homosexuals actually help strengthen marriage?

A: Just the opposite. There is recent evidence from the Netherlands, arguably the most “gay-friendly” culture on earth, that homosexual men have a very difficult time honoring the ideal of marriage. Even though same-sex “marriage” is legal there, a British medical journal reports male homosexual relationships last, on average, 1.5 years, and gay men have an average of eight partners a year outside of their supposedly “committed” relationships.

However, as BoxTurtleBulletin notes (bold mine):

--This study was not about gay relationships, as most people who misuse this study claims. Its purpose was to study how HIV is transmitted in the Dutch population. That’s why the study was based only on those with HIV/AIDS attending STD clinics. It is no more generalizable to the general LGBT population than heterosexuals with STD’s are representative of straight people overall.

--This study excluded everyone over thirty — the prime age in which people are more likely to settle down and marry.

--“Relationships” weren’t defined. Anything including a second date to a lifetime commitment could be counted. You simply cannot compare that to straight couples who are married as the FRC does. FRC cites the study as taking place in a country with “legalized homosexual marriage”, but the Netherlands didn’t have anything like it when the study ended in 1998.

Registered partnerships for same-sex and opposite-sex couples didn’t begin until October 1, 1999. A limited form of same-sex marriage wasn’t available until 2001.

--And this is the most important point of all: Because the purpose of the study was to look at how AIDS is transmitted, all monogamous couples were specifically excluded from the study. Because monogamous couples aren’t transmitting HIV, they would have been completely irrelevant to the study’s goals.

These "Christians," John Stemberger and Glenn Stanton, have been using a study that EXCLUDED monogamous gay couples to show that gay couples are not monogamous!

AND THEY'RE STILL DOING IT!
From Focus on the Family: Marriage on the Ropes:

Studies show that homosexual men, in particular, have a difficult time honoring even the most basic commitments of "marriage." A recent study conducted in the Netherlands — a "progressive" nation in which gay marriage has been legal for several years — found that the average homosexual relationship lasts only 1.5 years, and that gay men have an average of eight sexual partners per year outside of their "primary" relationship!

Related post: Florida (Yes on 2) anti-marriage movement uses "Dutch Study" to further their cause.
~~~~Studies like these need to be sought out and carefully edited - meaning that the deception is willful.

So to all you "Christians" and pastors out there who feel that intentional dishonesty is acceptable to your "Lord Jesus Christ," just remember, this is your witness to the rest of we "lost," "confused," and "damned to hell for all eternity" homosexuals.

including to those of us who already happen to be 'unthinkably Christian' as well!

Florida (Yes on 2) anti-marriage movement uses "Dutch Study" to further their cause.

Hi, I'm John Stemberger, and apparently I approve of this message:

What Harm Would Same Sex Marriage Do? By Peter Sprigg (Color PDF Brochure)

One study in the Netherlands showed that homosexual men with a steady partner had an average of eight sexual partners per year. [...] The same Dutch study that showed the high rate of homosexual promiscuity also showed that the average homosexual male “partnership” lasts only 1.5 years.

You can read more about the Dutch Study here.

Most importantly (IMO), is that monogamous gay couples WERE EXCLUDED from the study altogether! But of course, they don't say that, yet the study continues to be used to show that ALL gay men with "steady partner[s]" are promiscuous (and thus, not a good environment for raising children).

Meaning, that John Stemberger, and the "Christian" Florida anti-marriage movement, are willing to LIE (in the name of Jesus of course).

John Stemberger: “If I blow my brains out”

John Stemberger, leader of the anti-marriage amendment in Florida, attempts to explain how the law of cause and effect -- in and of itself -- is how gay marriage will ruin his marriage:

Arthelene Rippy: Let’s go back a little bit to this equal…equal rights question, which always comes up. So they would say, how, if this same-sex couple is married, how does that affect John Stemberger’s marriage?

John Stemberger: Right. Well, you know, I gotta tell you Ar--one of the things I appreciate about you and this show is, is that you have a holistic understanding of home and family. So many of us compartmentalize everything, as if ‘politics’ is here our ‘family’s’ here, our ‘religion’s’ here, and never the tw--see that’s a very secular view. And the Bible sees life as an integrated whole, we do all thi--everything we do we do to the glory of God. And so you understand that and I really appreciate that. And so it does have an impact. Private behavior, does have public consequences.

And so, we have laws against suicide. Well why is that? Well because I’m connected to, a woman in a marriage, I’m connected to a family with children, I’m connected to a business, a community, an economic system. If I blow my brains out, somebody’s got to come and pay for that and clean it up. There’s a cost -- to things -- and we don’t just live in an isolated situation.

Hillary had it partly right, it doesn’t take a village--it takes a family and a community. But the idea is we need each other, and our private behavior does have public consequences, and the State’s police power is important enough, and this an important enough--legitimate enough issue to use law and public policy to regulate the definition of marriage.

~~~That said, these are some of our allies:

Equality Florida

SayNo2.com (formerly floridaredandblue.com), which seems to be more active than EQ as far as fighting the amendment is concerned.

And as a little birdie just told me, you may also want to check out votenoon2.com. So far, I like their style.

And don’t forget about Florida's KnowThyNeighbor.org, where you can search for the names of those who've signed the petition. (note: not all the names may be on there, some have been turned in since that list was first provided.)
~~~And just to share, my brother and his wife signed to get that amendment on the ballot. No surprise there (as they're AG), but it would seem that the rest of my family couldn’t care less how offensive that is to me.

I no longer speak to my family.

This November, tell unmarried couples what you really think of them.

For more information visit Florida4marriage and Yes2marriage.

Without your vote, their legal contracts will still be binding.

If you won't prevent my foster parents from adopting me, who will?

Florida Anti-Gay Amendment 2 - Vote yes, Nov. 2008

This ad not sponsored by Yes2Marriage.org or Florida4Marriage.org