Gov. Rick Scott signs bill repealing discriminatory law banning adoptions by same-sex couples.
Florida’s gay adoption ban was finally overturned Thursday when Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill that repealed the discriminatory law enacted back in 1977. The measure is part of a larger bill that provides incentives to community-based care lead agencies and their subcontractors for achieving specific adoption performance standards. The new law goes into effect on July 1.
Even though Scott signed the bill, he still wants to allow faith-based adoption agencies to have the option of refusing qualified prospective parents based on sexual orientation.
“To be clear, some of our faith-based child placement agencies do not place children in homes with same sex parents, and this is a matter of their sincerely held religious beliefs, consistent with religious freedom rights granted in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and in Article I of the Florida Constitution,” Scott said in a memo attached to his signature. “It is my hope and expectation that the Legislature will take future action to make clear that we will support private, faith-based operations in the child welfare system and ensure that their religious convictions continue to be protected.”
Based on his comments, Scott is hoping that the Florida Legislature will pass a bill similar to the one Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signed earlier this week. The bill in Michigan allows taxpayer funded adoption agencies to discriminate against LGBT people if they cite a sincerely held religious belief. WJCT news notes that the Florida Legislature already tried to pass a bill like that during this year’s session, and it failed.Â
Â
Image by Michael Verhoef via Flickr and a CC license