Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Florida recognizes second-parent adoption from elsewhere

There's little I hate more in our community than a lesbian mom who creates a two-mother family and later decides to pretend there was only one mother. Well today Florida, of all places, has ruled that she can't -- not when she allowed the other mom to adopt the child in another state. Even though Florida does not allow even one gay person to adopt, let alone a second-parent adoption, the Florida Court of Appeals ruled unanimously today that Florida must give "full faith and credit" to adoption decrees from other states. The trial judge had refused to recognize the adoption, but the appeals court ruled that there is no public policy exception to the Full Faith and Credit clause of the Constitution when it comes to judgments of other states -- including adoption judgments. Congratulations to National Center for Lesbian Rights on a great win!

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