Yesterday the state [of Florida] tried to convince an appeals court that [Judge] Lederman erred, arguing that the [gay adoption] ban is justified by higher rates of breakups, psychiatric problems, and domestic violence among gay couples. Lawyers for Martin Gill, a gay man who is seeking to adopt two foster children he has been raising for five years, disputed the statistics and argued that, in any event, “group generalization makes no sense,” since the government can, should, and does evaluate would-be adoptive parents as individuals.
Can you even imagine if a similar argument was made against any other community? Say, hypothetically, if members of the Miccosukee tribe had “higher rates of breakups, psychiatric problems, and domestic violence”, would they be banned from adopting children? Would every member of the tribe be banned because of their association with said community? Heck to the N-O. Their applications for adoption would be judged on a case-by-case basis, their ability to be a good parent carefully scrutinized, and hopefully a fair decision given to them.
As it stands today, the individual loses in Florida and association fallacies dictate adoption guidelines for the gay community. Step it up, Sunshine State.
