"The attorney general's office had argued that gay men and lesbians are disproportionately more likely to suffer from mental illness or a substance abuse problem than straight people, rendering them less fit to parent -- especially children in foster care who already are under tremendous stress."

You know, it's this kind of shit that pisses me off more than anything because, from experience, my gay uncle was a better father than my real father who decided to take off on me and my mom, so I think you guys should do a big "Fuck You" to the Florida attorney general's office.

I love how they try to turn something like a persons sexuality into a mental disorder. These are the same people who not 100 years ago were saying that women were deemed fit to vote because of a smaller brain capacity that didn't allow them to reason properly.

I'm SO glad sociology was actually used the way it's meant to be used- to debunk myths and fight for equality (in my opinion, anyway). Woo-hoo!

First post... whee....

"The attorney general's office had argued that gay men and lesbians are disproportionately more likely to suffer from mental illness or a substance abuse problem than straight people"

I actually believe this, though it wouldn't surprise me if they didn't mention WHY this was. I'm thinking being considered a second class citizen (if even that) will get to a person after a while.

but all in all.. yeah... HORRAY civil rights!
Happy for those kids. Not enough kids get adopted without keeping people who want to be parents and are capable of raising children from doing so.

If only every policy debate read like a social science paper, or any science paper for that matter.

Just a quick point. While this is wonderful news, it's a circuit court judge decision and has at least one appeal to go through before being kicked to the Florida Supreme Court, so your headline is a little premature. Nonetheless, it's a huge victory for those abused kids. Here's hoping the decision stands up.

Do you know what REALLY does harm to children? Being an orphan. As someone who has spent a great deal of time working in orphanages across Russia, I can hardly handle how criminal it is that gay and lesbian people are not allowed to adopt children in some places. There are innocent, beautiful children in DESPERATE need of parents. They are living in extremely poor conditions, often without heat, proper nutrition, and education. Every day that a child spends in an orphanage means slimmer chances of adoption and even of living to adulthood, forget with any sort of skills or upbringing. The fact that bigoted people in this country are willing to do that to innocent children in order to support their own hateful world-views makes me so, so, so angry. Any person, whatever their sexuality, who is willing to feed, shelter, clothe, educate, and love a child who has absolutely nothing is a God-given blessing, period.

I'm confused. I thought gay adoption was allowed in FL anyway..isn't that why Rosie O'Donnell and her partner live/lived there? Am I just a moron?

I'm disturbed that anyone would be allowed or disallowed to adopt on the basis of what social, sexual, racial, religious, etc. group they belong to. Being part of a group is no guarantee of anything. Their fitness should be determined based on their individual behavior, ability to support and nurture. It might take more time to evaluate individuals, but isn't it worth it to make sure a child is placed in a good home with loving parents.

Woot! Great news!

The attorney general's office had argued that gay men and lesbians are disproportionately more likely to suffer from mental illness or a substance abuse problem than straight people, rendering them less fit to parent -- especially children in foster care who already are under tremendous stress.

The attorney general's office had argued that gay men and lesbians are disproportionately more likely to suffer from mental illness or a substance abuse problem than straight people, rendering them less fit to parent -- especially children in foster care who already are under tremendous stress.

And we all know where foster children come from: gay people's butts!

Wait, but aren't men like seven times more likely to be violent criminals and much more likely than women to be sexual abusers, and more likely than women to commit suicide? So why aren't we talking about banning them from adopting kids? What's that you say, not ALL men are violent or sexually abusive or likely to commit suicide? Ah, that's right, dominant groups get to be judged as INDIVIDUALS, but groups we don't like are judged by the actions and circumstances of a few. Also, wouldn't a finding that supports banning gay or lesbian adoptions based on higher levels of mental illness and substance abuse then mean that, for instance, Native Americans can't adopt due to higher rates of alcohol problems? And really, those white judges better look out, because Asian Americans are more educated, are least likely to have children before turning 20 and surpass whites in several areas of health. So if we're going by McCollum's logic, only Asian Americans should be allowed to adopt -- and even then, maybe only Asian American women! Wheeeeeeeee!!!

(Note to trolls: I don't REALLY think men should be banned from adopting kids; it's called sarcasm out here in the normal world.)

I appreciate the concern which is been rose. The things need to be sorted out because it is about the individual but it can be with everyone.
Elenora
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