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157 F.Supp.2d 1372 (2001), Case No. 99-10058, United States District Court, Southern District of Florida
This action was brought to challenge the Florida statute, which provides that “No person eligible to adopt under this statute may adopt if that person is a homosexual.” Plaintiffs include Steven Lofton, an HIV+ foster parent and the ten year-old foster child he has raised since infancy, as well as Douglas Houghton and the ten year-old boy for whom he has been legal guardian for five years. The suit argues that the Florida law violates the federal constitutional right to equal protection and family integrity.
The trial court dismissed the case at the summary judgment stage, and the plaintiffs appealed to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Along with eight other organizations and individuals, NCYL filed an amicus brief in the Court of Appeals emphasizing that the law is inconsistent with both Florida’s other policies toward adoption and the best interests of children.
Defendants filed a motion to strike the amicus brief, arguing that the brief included information that was not part of the record. The court denied the motion. The Court has scheduled then moved oral argument several times. Argument was held on March 4, 2003.
On January 28, 2004, the Eleventh Circuit held that the Florida law preventing children from being adopted by gay or lesbian parents is constitutional. In the summer of 2004, plaintiffs applied for a rehearing en banc which was denied on July 21, 2004. Lofton v. Secretary of Dept. of Children and Family Services, 377 F.3d 1275 (2004).
Counsel: Curtis L. Child, NCYL; Philip L. Graham, Jr.; Child Welfare League of America, Children’s Rights, Inc., and the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute.
Updated Dec. 20, 2005
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