The Supreme Court has refused to hear a challenge to Florida’s ban on adoption by lesbians and gay men. According to the Washington Post, the court declined a petition issued by four gay foster parents and their foster children, in Lawrence v. Texas, who are arguing that Florida’s law, the only state law in the nation to ban gay adoption, is unconstitutional. Florida’s current law states that “no person eligible to adopt under this statute may adopt if that person is a homosexual.”
After the plaintiffs lost their case in the Key West Federal District Court, their lawyers filed briefs arguing that Florida’s law should be seen as an expression on anti-gay sentiment, reports the New York Times. In order for the court to rehear the case, a majority vote was needed. However, the appeals court was tied in a 6-6 vote. Judge William H. Pryor Jr., who was appointed by President Bush last February while Congress was on an 11-day recess, was one of the judges who voted against rehearing the case.
Conservatives hailed the Supreme Court decision to let Florida’s ban on gay adoption stand and may try to push similar legislation in other states.
