One of the central tenets of family law has always been finding solutions to contentious issues that protect the best interest of children involved in such disputes.
For instance, when a Florida judge recently ruled that the state’s ban on gay people adopting children was unconstitutional, it allowed two brothers to stay with the couple that had cared for them for over four years and officially become a family:
The ruling means that Martin Gill, 47, and his male partner can adopt two brothers, ages 4 and 8, whom he has cared for as foster children since December 2004.
“I’ve never seen myself as less than anybody else,” Gill said. “We’re very grateful. Today, I’ve cried the first tears of joy in my life.”
Of course, the Religious Right doesn’t see it that way, which is why they’d prefer to see the boys ripped away from the fathers and presumably placed back into foster care:
A group of conservative preachers representing the Christian Coalition said they support removing adopted children of gay parents from stable homes, rather than let a ruling stand that overturns the Florida’s anti-gay adoption law … When asked whether the group supported removing Gill’s children from his home, [Rev. Paul Carbalho] said that he would support placing them in the homes of straight parents regardless of the fact that Lederman and eight expert witnesses from across the nation agreed that it was in the children’s best interest to remain with Gill.
