"boy did you hear me say,
did you hear me say now.
love aint far, well I done mine, done mine, done mine
ooohhh you can't hurry love"
The Concretes
I work for an adoption agency. It's work that I am very proud to do, and feel ever more so proud knowing that I'm one of the only agencies in my region that works with same-sex parents. For the last thirty three years, Florida has been the ONLY state that explicitly prohibited same-sex parent adoptions. What did that mean?
1. If you were gay, and your grandchild, niece, nephew, or cousin (i.e you were related to a child) was removed from their home because their parents were deemed unfit to parent, the state would let you foster the child indefinitely but you would never be able to adopt him/her. Because you were gay, you could parent a child but not be a legal guardian.
2. If you were gay, but eligible to pass a home study through a state licensed agency (i.e. clean criminal background, healthy, financially stable, and had a safe home), you could not adopt. But someone with a criminal history who wasn't gay would be able to adopt.
3. If you were gay, you could try to adopt outside of Florida. But trying to come back into Florida you would be stopped by officials overseeing interstate adoptions because of the gay adoption ban told them they had to block the placement.
4. If you were gay, you could move out of Florida, and uproot your entire life, and complete an adoption elsewhere. You could finalize your adoption, and then move back to Florida, with the understanding that someone could report you and live with the threat that your adoption could be overturned if charges were pursued.
Today is a good day. October 12th, 2010, the gay adoption ban was officially lifted with the announcement from Florida DCF (Dept of Children and Family Services) that they would not appeal the judge's ruling to overturn the ban. Today I got to speak with many, many couples in Florida and tell them they could adopt. That they could have access to one of the most basic desires - to create a family. That they no longer would be subject to the homophobic 33 year long law that kept them from achieving their dream of parenting children.
This is not to say that the state of Florida is Utopian by any means now. I made calls to agencies to see who would provide my clients home studies, and there are still many who have religious affiliations that will not be changing their policies. There will still rampant homophobia, and an outcry from social conservatives, despite all the facts pointing them in the face that GAY PARENTS ARE GOOD PARENTS.
LOVE MAKES A FAMILY.
Some people are crying over the videos on the Chilean miners rescue mission. Don't get me wrong, that's an amazing testament to survival instinct... But I've been crying tears of happiness because of all the wonderful people I spoke with today, and hearing that their faith told them to hang on just a little while longer. To listen to them thank ME for staying with them and guiding them at every step...I've been truly touched.
So tonight I tip my glass to the new people from Florida that will be in my professional life, and also to my LGBT friends and family. I love you, and I support you with every fiber of my being and I think it's amazing how each of you perservere every day just in being yourselves.
IT DOES GET BETTER. :)
