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Family values
Family values
A Times Editorial Published July 19, 2004 The mandate of Florida's Department of Children and Families is to serve the best interests of children, not to take sides in the culture war. Yet DCF appears to be trying to remove two little girls from their first stable home because they are being parented by a gay couple. Cruel is not too strong a word to describe the department's actions. Curtis Watson, 40, is a licensed foster parent with a significant track record. The state has such confidence in his abilities as a nurturer that it has placed numerous children in his care, six at present. He is also in a long-term committed relationship with a man who works for a health facility. The house they share has been repeatedly evaluated by state workers as a positive environment. Unfortunately, because of a bigoted and shortsighted state law, the couple is legally barred from formally adopting children. But there is nothing in law that says they can't qualify for "long-term, nonrelative custody." This is not quite a formal adoption but nearly so, in that, through a judge's order, it confers indefinite custody. This status was granted Watson and his partner in March, making them the parents of two sisters, one 5 and the other 6 years old, who had been in their care for many months. Caseworkers had been unable to find an adoptive home for the girls and a third sister. After a year it was determined that the best alternative was for the pair to be raised in the Watson home. Three sets of state workers concluded that this would be in their best interests. Indications are that these girls are now flourishing. The younger one was recently observed by St. Petersburg Times staff writer Curtis Krueger smiling at her two dads and calling out "Daddy, I love you. I love you." What is also clear is that the men desperately love the girls and want to be their parents permanently. "They mean just complete joy to me," Watson said. But the state is trying to unravel this family. On Friday DCF was in court to try to set aside the long-term custody order which would allow the girls to be moved into an adoptive placement. Although DCF does not say that the couple's homosexuality is behind the effort, it seems likely to be a factor. It would be truly unthinkable to remove these girls after they were told by a court that they now have real parents. The girls are in a permanent, stable household - the first of their lives - and the state has no more business here unless there is evidence of abuse or neglect. Openly gay and lesbian parents have been proving for decades that they can raise happy, healthy, well-adjusted children. Florida's baseless discrimination only breeds tragedies like this. http://www.sptimes.com/2004/07/19/Op...y_values.shtml Defend your civil liberties! Get information at http://www.aclu.org, become a member at http://www.aclu.org/join and get active at http://www.aclu.org/action. |
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