Cynthia Nixon Helps to End Florida Adoption Ban

Cynthia Nixon, Sex and the City star and LGBT rights advocate, will join The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida on Saturday, January 9, 2010 to kick off the ACLUâ??s three-year campaign to end Floridaâ??s ban on adoption by gay and lesbian people.

The event, to be held poolside at South Beachâ??s luxurious Shore Club, 1901 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, will begin with a VIP reception at 7:30 p.m., followed by a press line, and the main event at 7:15 p.m. Further details on the press line will be available the first week of January. Details and tickets are available at www.aclufl.org/adoption

U.S. Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Florida Senator Nan Rich, Florida Representative Mary Brandenburg, Howard Simon, ACLU of Florida Executive Director, Robert Rosenwald, ACLU-FL LGBT Advocacy Project Director, and Martin Gill, ACLU plaintiff, father of two foster children for five years are currently slated to attend.

Florida’s Adoption Ban is the only law in the country that categorically prohibits gay men and lesbians from adopting children. This discriminatory law hurts thousands of children who are languishing in Florida’s foster care system by denying them a permanent home.

The ACLU of Floridaâ??s LGBT Advocacy Project and national ACLU LGBT Project sued the state on behalf of a North Miami man and two brothers who he had been fostering at the stateâ??s request for four years â?? the only stable home the children have ever known. In a landmark November 2008 decision, a Miami judge ruled that the two boys, now ages five and nine, can remain with the adoptive father, who is gay. The State appealed to the Third District Court of Appeals, where the case has been argued. We are currently awaiting the courtâ??s opinion.

In July 2009, The Tides Foundationâ??s State Equality Fund awarded a $240,000 grant to the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Floridaâ??s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) Advocacy Project to fund a three-year public education and outreach campaign.

In addition, the John C. Graves Charitable Fund of the Community Foundation of Broward has provided a quarter of a million dollars to support the ACLU of Floridaâ??s LGBT rights work since 2005, including the initial grant that seeded the LGBT Advocacy Project. Other significant support has come from The GLBT Community Projects Fund at Dade Community Foundation, and the Scott Opler Foundation. The ACLUâ??s Campaign to End Floridaâ??s Adoption Ban is designed to support the ACLUâ??s lawsuit challenging the adoption ban by educating Floridians about the adoption ban and the negative impact it has on Floridaâ??s children and families.

The statewide trainings will coach people on how to talk about the adoption ban with friends, family, colleagues, and small groups of people. The trainings are conducted by the ACLU of Florida, GLAAD, and Family Equality Council and will be offered in cities throughout Florida over the next three years. The January 9, 2010 event will kick off this very important campaign and bring visibility to the issue. More information on the trainings can be found at www.aclufl.org/training.

By News Wire