Gov. Crist Crist may drop gay adoption lawsuit, says he’s evolved
Sunday night we posted a position statement on LGBT issues from Gov. Christ covering a wide range of topics, including: calling for an end to Don't Ask Don't Tell, passage of the Uniting American Families Act and an end to anti-gay adoption laws, among others.
Today, in a story from the Palm Beach Post, Gov. Christ states that he's had a change of heart about Florida's horrible law banning gays and lesbians from adopting.
In the story he hints at an inclination to actually dropping the state's challenge, led by Attorney General Bill Mccollum, to a judge's ruling that the law is unconstitutional.
See the full story below...
by Dara Kam | September 14th, 2010
Gov. Charlie Crist said he has had an “appropriate evolution” regarding gay rights and is considering dropping the state’s lawsuit challenging a gay couple’s adoption of two foster children.
“I think we need to review that. My comments really reflect that it’s better to have more of the judicial branch involved in this process. I think that most who follow the judiciary recognize that what’s in the ‘best interest of the child’ is what should be paramount in these kinds of decisions. That’s what I believe and I think that’s what will be the best for them,” Crist, the independent candidate in the three-way race for U.S. Senate, told reporters.
Crist’s campaign this week released a position paper backing a swath of gay rights – including the right to adopt. Florida has one of the country’s most strident anti-gay adoption laws.
The Department of Children and Families, one of Crist’s agencies, is challenging a judge’s ruling that the law is unconstitutional. DCF appealed the adoption of his two foster children granted to Martin Gill. An appeals court decision in the lawsuit, fought by Attorney General Bill McCollum’s office on behalf of DCF, could come any time.
Why not just drop the case? One reporter pushed.
“I’m going to review it before I would make that call,” he insisted.
Crist the candidate has considerably softened his stance towards gay rights in the four years since he ran for governor, when he opposed gay marriage.
Why the change, he was asked.
“Not a whole lot has changed to be candid. I also said (back in 2006) that I’m a live-and-let-live kind of guy. And I am. As I said this morning, I think that the older you get, the less judgmental you become,” Crist said. “Maybe I was more rigid earlier. But I don’t feel that way. And I know who’s supposed to be judging people and it’s not me.”
