Frank Martin Gill simply wants to help raise two young boys, but the state of Florida remains focused on who Gill sleeps with. A 1977 state law bans adoptions by gay parents and is the subject of a legal challenge before the 3rd District Court of Appeal. Previously, Miami-Dade Judge Cindy Lederman ruled for Gill and found the law to be irrational and unconstitutional.
Deputy Solicitor General Timothy Osterhaus insisted before the three-judge panel that gay households have a higher rate of domestic violence, psychiatric disorders, and unstable relationships. Of course, the divorce rate for heterosexual couples in the United States is estimated to be 50% percent of first marriages, 67% of second and 74% of third marriages. More conservative figures put the rate at 41%, 60%, and 73% — not much an improvement for the model of stable relationships in Florida.
The ban on gay foster parents was an outgrowth of the campaign by
former Miss America contestant Anita Bryant against gay rights. She was the spokeswoman for Florida citrus.
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