Florida

The Florida Family Policy Council - which opposes adoption by gay couples - uses scare tactics and stereotypical profiling to inform its members - according to a blogger at Sociological Images. FFPC contacted its members about a judge's ruling to allow a lesbian couple to adopt a relative's child they had been fostering. On the left is the photo included with the alert; on the right is a photo of the actual couple.

Florida's adoption ban was ignored again by fair-minded people with authority. State child welfare administrators agreed to provide health insurance, college tuition and other benefits to the adopted son of a gay Key West man.

The Miami Herald reports:

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Maria Sampedro-Iglesia has delivered the third ruling against Florida's infamous adoption ban - allowing a lesbian couple to adopt an infant relative, the Miami Herald reports:

On October 3rd, the ACLU of Florida, along with the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Family Equality Council, and SAVE Dade, will host a free training event at the Miami-Dade GLBT Expo that will provide participants with the skills to take a stand against Florida's ban on gay adoption and support litigation challenging Florida's ban by changing the hearts and minds of your friends, neighbors, and communities.

The sexual orientation of adoptive parents does not have an impact on the emotional development of their children, according to a new study.

Paige Averett, an assistant professor of social work at East Carolina University, said in a statement, "We found that sexual orientation of the adoptive parents was not a significant predictor of emotional problems."

tampabay.com reports that Jane Castor - an openly lesbian mother of two - has been appointed Tampa Florida's first female police chief.

Mayor Pam Iorio made the announcement during a morning news conference.

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.