A bill that would allow private agencies to deny adoptions by gay couples on religious or moral grounds has been put on hold, the Miami Herald reports:
The bill was temporarily postponed and may be brought up again by the same committee, said state Rep. David Richardson, Florida's first openly gay lawmaker.
“However, this committee does not have any more meetings scheduled this Legislative session. It would have to be a special order of the Senate president to convene the committee and continue hearing the bill,” said Richardson, D-Miami Beach.
Committee Chairman David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, said he would work with Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, to determine how to proceed.
The bill had been passed by the House in early April.
Said Equality Florida's Nadine Smith: “With the clock running out, it is very likely the end of the line for this bad bill. The bottom line is the bill is unconstitutional. It would have allowed state-funded discrimination and in doing so threatened hundreds of millions of federal dollars for foster care and adoption. It was written in way to allow a broad range of discrimination at taxpayer expense.”
