Gay adoption.

It would be greatly appreciated if those in favor of gay and lesbian adoption would desist from labeling those opposed as "bigots." To quote an earlier letter writer, "These words do absolutely nothing to enhance or elevate our profession.... "

If I am offended by anything in this debate, it is the idea that because I do not favor the one true side, I am "unenlightened." This is the crux of the problem, i.e., good people can and do strongly disagree, and it therefore should not be made to appear to the public that the membership of the Bar is united in their views on this political question. I do not care where the money comes from--don't try to dress the issue in Bar clothes to make it appear to the public that we all agree.

Howard T. Sutter Jacksonville

I have been following with interest the debate regarding approval of the lobbying positions taken by the Family Law Section and the Public Interest Law Section on the issue of Florida's statutory ban on gay adoption.

Floridians know me as a staunch advocate for children, especially children caught up in the child welfare system. I retain that passion now as a law professor at the University of Memphis School of Law. I also continue to represent the two child plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit, Lotion v. Regier, which Challenges Florida's gay adoption ban on constitutional grounds. In that case, six dissenting judges of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, on a petition for rehearing en banc, agreed that there is a serious and substantial question as to whether Florida's statute is constitutional. A seventh judge, the author of the opinion, remarked that if he were a legislator, rather than a judge, he would "vote in favor of considering otherwise eligible homosexuals for adoptive parenthood."

To me, there is no reasonable basis for Florida to maintain thousands of children in state custody on an adoption waiting list without permanent homes, while the state ignores the stable, nurturing homes that many gay and lesbian people might provide them. Even the Child Welfare League of America supports nondiscrimination against homosexuals who seek to adopt, and finds no child welfare basis for the gay adoption ban. I have represented hundreds of children in Florida's and now Tennessee's juvenile courts, who have been horribly abused, neglected, or abandoned by their parents or caretakers. In each case the parent has been heterosexual. I know, however, that bald arguments do not change minds or...