Less than a month after Floridians voted to pass a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, a Miami judge has ruled that a 31-year-old law in the Sunshine State prohibiting gay couples from adopting children is unconstitutional. It's a victory for civil rights activists and supporters who suffered several blows on November 4th, including an Arkansas measure blocking "unmarried" (read: gay) couples from fostering or adopting children in that state. "It is clear that sexual orientation is not a predictor of a person's ability to parent," Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman wrote in her 53-page ruling. "A child in need of love, safety and stability does not first consider the sexual orientation of his parent. The exclusion causes some children to be deprived of a permanent placement with a family that is best suited to their needs." An appeal is expected to be filed on behalf of the state Department of Children & Families. John Stemberger, an Orlando attorney who chaired the November vote against gay couples responded: "Everywhere in the law where children are affected, the standard must always be what is in the best interest of the child. What is stunning to me is that when it comes to dealing with gays, that standard goes out the window. Children do better with a mother and a father." Perhaps, but children with two dads or two moms do better than kids with none at all.

Relatedly, there's an interesting interview with a Mexican-American Catholic author Richard Rodriguez in Salon today examining the real fears behind the church's scapegoating of gay couples who wish to marry and start their own families. Check it out here.