The two children at the heart of the case that legalized adoption for gay men and lesbians in Florida have now been legally adopted by Martin Gill. The family had an adoption ceremony yesterday in the offices of Judge Cindy Lederman, the Miami-Dade Circuit Court judge who ruled that the adoption ban was unconstitutional and said Gill could adopt the brothers.
Gill’s partner, who remained unnamed in court documents, is still not a legal parent to the boys he, too, helped raise, however. Whether Florida would grant a second-parent adoption remains an open question.
Incoming Gov. Rick Scott also said yesterday that he remains opposed to adoption by gay men and lesbians, although he has no immediate plans to change the new policy, reports the Miami Herald. New Attorney General Pam Bondi agreed. Some people are worried, however, about Scott’s appointment of David Wilkins as secretary of the Department of Children & Families, according to the Herald. Wilkins serves as finance chief for the Florida Baptist Children’s Home, which “allows only ‘professing Christians’ to adopt children in its care.”