Florida senate votes to repeal ban on same-sex adoption News
Florida senate votes to repeal ban on same-sex adoption

[JURIST] The Florida Senate [official website] voted [vote, PDF] Tuesday to repeal the State’s ban on same-sex adoption [text, CS/HB 7013]. The Senate voted 27-11 to repeal the law, which has been on the books in Florida since 1977. The bill, which already passed [vote, PDF] the Florida House of Representatives in March, now heads to Governor Rick Scott [official website]. The Florida law banning same-sex adoption was declared unconstitutional [JURIST report] by a Florida appeals court in 2010.

Same-sex marriage [JURIST backgrounder] and adoption remain divisive and controversial issues around the world. Last month the Slovenian Parliament [official website] passed legislation [JURIST report] granting same-sex marriage and adoption rights amid public opposition from conservative and religious groups. In February the Constitutional Court of Colombia [official website, in Spanish] upheld [JURIST report] a restriction that same-sex couples cannot adopt children that have no biological relation to either parent. In June the Chambre des Deputes [official website, in French], Luxembourg’s national legislative body, approved a bill [JURIST report] extending marriage and adoption rights to same-sex couples.