Experts clash on gays' bids to adopt children

Dueling social-science testimony marked a trial over a gay North Miami man's petition to adopt his two foster children.

The judge's ruling will determine whether a 4-year-old boy and his 8-year-old brother can be adopted by Frank Gill, the North Miami foster parent who has raised the boys for four years, and his partner. Lederman said she will decide on the adoption later this month.

Florida is the only state that bans all gay people from adopting. This fall, a Circuit Court judge in Key West declared Florida's ban unconstitutional, although the decision is ... Full Story »

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3.7
by Beth Wellington - Nov. 18, 2008

I applaud the reporter for getting a copy of the transcript and reporting on this closed hearing. I would have liked a link to the transcript so that I could have had access to more than was provided in this article. I would have liked a summary of the legal grounds argued to reverse the law. (And to reverse the prior court ruling upholding the law--see Lofton ruling to which I''ve linked. ) I would have liked some statistics on gay adoptions in other states, but according to an ... More »

The law, in banning all gays from adopting, does a disservice to both the potential parents and children and seems to violate the equal protection, ... More »

Gill, 47, never set out to challenge Florida’s controversial adoption law, which allows drug abusers and felons to adopt but imposes a blanket ban on gay people. But ... More »

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3.5
by Dan Kennedy - Nov. 17, 2008

The author does a reasonably good job of showing that two witnesses who testified against adoption by gay and lesbian parents are well outside the mainstream of accepted social science.

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3.7
by Derek Hawkins - Nov. 17, 2008

Thoroughly and fairly sets up the debate over same-sex adoption in a state that prohibits it. Strong, meticulously balanced trial reporting. Could have been broadened by seeking input from more people not involved in the proceedings. Otherwise well reported and detailed.

I feel like this bends over backward to give the flimsy statistics of the adoption opponents the benefit of the doubt -- perhaps out of necessity, ... More »

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4.3
by Dale Penn - Nov. 17, 2008

This is a local case with implications for the entire state of Florida. It employs substantial information from both sides of the argument without editorializing. The depth of this local reporting is rare and should be encouraged.

As a gay father with a healthy, well adjusted straight son who was abandoned by his straight mother, I have a dog in this hunt. Good parents are ... More »

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4.0
by Chris Finnie - Nov. 17, 2008

When the dissenting expert says the other guy cooked the data, it would have been interesting to have independent statistics presented to check the competing claims. Overall, Miller seems to have done a good job of presenting the two sides in the case and the overall context.

Gays and lesbians I know tell me they not only waited to have "normal" sexual leanings, but wanted to and even tried to in many cases. All come from ... More »

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4.3
by Michael Bugeja - Nov. 18, 2008

This enterprising reporter secures transcripts of a case in which gay foster parents want to adopt children but cannot, in that Florida law bans gays from adoption (although allows it for felons and drug abusers). While the topic is gay adoption rights, the theme is social science--which stands this report above others in that its in-depth look at the topic also does so from that perspective. The story hinges on testimony by two professors for the state: George A. Rekers, a retired ... More »

As a foster parent who adopted, I can attest that placement should be based on a case-by-case basis rather than on a cluster basis, especially when ... More »

Under cross-examination, Rekers, who also has a theology degree, acknowledged that he taught and practiced psychology from a Christian perspective, and had written books ... More »

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3.7
by Fred Gatlin - Nov. 17, 2008

This is good article about experts for a trial to determine if a homosexual person can be an adopted father. This is a well written and important story.

A good article that makes it clear why our predecessors wrote our constitution to separate government and churches

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3.1
by Veronica Barlee - Dec. 1, 2008

well-written article about the constitutional challenge to Florida's ban on gay adoptive parents. One major fault, the story quotes "experts", who ... More »

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