Martin Gill

Northern California's Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) - Chairman of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee - will host a panel discussion upon reintroduction of the Every Child Deserves a Family Act.

The proposed legislation would offer more homes to foster children by working with states to end discrimination against adoptive and foster parents based on sexual orientation and marital status.

The AP reports:

Florida's strict ban on adoptions by gay people is going before a state appeals court.

The state is appealing a Miami-Dade judge's November 2008 ruling that the law is unconstitutional. The ruling came in the case of Martin Gill [pictured], who along with his partner has adopted two young boys. The appeals court is hearing oral arguments today in Miami.

Over 250 fair-minded demonstrators marched to the Florida Capitol Tuesday to lobby for repeal of the state's legal ban on adoption by gay couples and passage of bills to include sexual orientation in civil-rights laws.

The Florida Bar supports gay adoption.

The Bar's board of governors voted unanimously to file an amicus brief before the 3rd District Court of Appeal supporting a Miami-Dade circuit judge's ruling that declared unconstitutional the state's ban on gay adoptions.

St. Petersburg Times columnist Robyn E. Blumner helps us get to know the two lucky sons [John, age 8, and his brother James, age 4] of 47-year-old Frank Martin Gill, who is gay. Miami Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman ruled Tuesday there was "no rational basis" for prohibiting Gill from adopting the brothers.

Miami Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman ruled Tuesday there was "no rational basis" for prohibiting gays from adopting children. The ruling will allow 47-year-old Martin Gill to adopt two young brothers he has cared for as foster children since 2004.

Florida has one of the strictest bans on gay adoptions in the country. A judge in Key West ruled in September that the ban was unconstitutional, but that ruling has had limited legal impact.

During 15 years as a child-welfare judge, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman has been a lawyer, a social worker and even a bit of a cheerleader, encouraging troubled parents to make better choices.

When Lederman rules later this month on a gay foster father's petition to adopt the two small boys he has raised since 2004, she will have to wear yet another hat: social scientist.