[11][12] In 2006, Frank Martin Gill, an openly gay man, petitioned the department to adopt two boys, but although every assessment and home study showed that the boys were thriving under the excellent care of Gill and his partner, the department denied the petition because it violated the Florida law against adoption by a homosexual.

[13] Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court of Florida Judge Lederman found in favor of Gill, and granted the adoption in 2008.

[14] In In re Gill, Judge Lederman noted: "Here Petitioner qualifies for approval as an adoptive parent in all respects but one: his sexual orientation.

Yet homosexuals may be lawful foster parents in Florida and care for our most fragile children who have been abused, neglected and abandoned.

The contradiction between the adoption and foster care statutes defeats the public morality argument and is thus not rationally related to serving a governmental interest.