Florida's Republican-controlled
Legislature on Tuesday gave final approval to a bill which seeks to
repeal the state's 38-year-old and unenforceable ban on gay adoption.
Following passage last month in the
House, the bill (HB 7013) cleared the Florida Senate with a 27-11
vote.
The bill now heads to the desk of
Republican Governor Rick Scott.
Martin Gill, a gay foster parent who
sought to adopt two young children, challenged the law in court. In
2010, a judge struck it down and Florida officials decided against
filing an appeal.
Gill was represented in the case by the
ACLU of Florida.
“Although the law is no longer
enforceable, the fact that it remained on the books sent a harmful
and stigmatizing message to lesbian and gay parents and their
children,” ACLU Executive Director Howard Simon said in a statement
after House passage.
A
campaign calling on Governor Scott to sign the bill has been
launched by Equality Florida, the state's largest LGBT rights
advocate.
A separate bill allowing religious
exceptions has already received House approval.
(Related: Florida
House approves bill allowing religious adoption agencies to refuse
gay couples.)