MIAMI, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- A Miami appeals court affirmed the adoption of two foster children by a gay couple Wednesday, ruling Florida's ban on same-sex adoption is unconstitutional.
The 3-0 decision by Gerald B. Cope Jr., Frank A. Shepherd and Vance E. Salter was unanimous in striking down a 33-year-old law against adoption by same-sex couples, The Miami Herald reported.
"Given a total ban on adoption by homosexual persons, one might expect that this reflected a legislative judgment that homosexual persons are, as a group, unfit to be parents," the opinion states.
"No one in this case has made, or even hinted at, any such argument. To the contrary, the parties agree 'that gay people and heterosexuals make equally good parents,'"
As it stands now, the decision by the 3rd District Court of Appeal in Miami allows Frank Martin Gill to remain the parent of two half-brothers he adopted from Florida's foster care system in 2009, raising them with his partner.
Advocates for heterosexual marriage will likely file to send the case to the Florida Supreme Court, the newspaper said.
