The state Legislature is faced with a bill aimed at overturning the state’s 1977 ban on gay adoption, and Florida’s Third District Court of Appeals must resolve a lawsuit over the issue stemming from Gill’s case. The case is likely to move on to the Florida Supreme Court.

The court case will likely resolve questions posed by gay rights advocates before the bill does.

The legislation is expected to die without coming to a vote before the Legislature adjourns next week.

“This year the bill is not going to be going anywhere to be honest with you,” said the sponsor, Sen. Nan Rich, D-Sunrise. “The best chance to get a change in this state … will be with Gill.”

The high court will hold preliminary hearings soon on Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman’s ruling that allowed Gill to adopt the boys in November. Her ruling said the ban violates equal protection rights for the children and their prospective gay parents.

See Gay adoption before Fla. Legislature, courts

MiamiHerald.com

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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/04/gay-adoption-…

Florida Supreme Court takes up gay adoption advocacy case

(Tallahassee, Florida) The Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday heard oral arguments as to whether a committee of the Florida Bar Association can present arguments challenging the state’s ban on gays adopting children.

Florida law allows gays to serve as foster parents but not adopt. The law is considered the most repressive of its …

Skipper killer guilty on all counts

Gay Florida man robbed, brutally murdered in 2007; perpetrator avoids death penalty. Also: VIDEO.

Skipper killer guilty on all counts

Gay Florida man robbed, brutally murdered in 2007; perpetrator avoids death penalty. Also: VIDEO.

2 Fla. students challenge school ruling on gay club

(Jacksonville, Florida) An attorney for two gay students at a north Florida high school told a federal judge Thursday they should be allowed to form a campus club promoting tolerance toward gays, despite a school prohibition.

But a lawyer for the Nassau County School Board said the group’s name, Gay-Straight Alliance, …

Skipper killer guilty on all counts

Gay Florida man robbed, brutally murdered in 2007; perpetrator avoids death penalty. Also: VIDEO.

New potential evidence found in Florida gay murder case

(Bartow, Florida) The prosecution in the trial of a man accused of killing Ryan Skipper in 2007 says it has found new evidence that could be linked to the slaying.

Joseph Bearden, a known methamphetamine addict, is accused of robbing, killing Skipper, and dumping his body. He has pleaded not guilty. …

Trial Begins For Men Accused Of Killing Gay Man In Florida

On dirt road that leads to Wahneta, Florida a driver made the ghastly discovery of a bloody body stabbed to death sitting on the side of the road. The date was Wednesday, March 14, 2007 at about 1:20AM.

That dead man was Ryan Keith Skipper, 25, a gay man. The trials of his accused murders – William David Brown Jr., 22, and Joseph Bearden, 23 – begin today, after several delays, as lawyers begin selecting a jury in a Polk County courtroom, reports The Ledger.

The pair were arrested soon after Skipper’s body was found and have remained in custody over the past two years.

Details of what happened between the three men remain sketchy. Family and friends hope the trial will shed light on Skipper’s final hours.

See Trial Begins For Men Accused Of Killing Gay Man In Florida
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