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www.ambiente.us AUGUST |AGOSTO 2010
McCollum says the law should be changed to prohibit GLBT
Floridians from being foster parents
The following questions and answers were taken from an
interview
by the Florida Baptist Witness with Florida Attorney General
and
Republican candidate for governor Bill McCollum. Please make
sure you get to the last question where McCollum says that it
would be advisable to change the law and prohibit gay and
lesbian Floridians from being foster parents.
http://www.gofbw.com/print.asp?ID=11992
Do you support civil rights protections on the basis of sexual preference?
There’s a law in Florida that says that we have, and [as attorney general] I have a Civil
Rights Division, that we have a hate crimes issue. And that’s really where that comes
in for me. Whether or not somebody is discriminated against on the basis of race,
religion, sexual orientation or whatever that they should not be. And if somebody
commits a crime on that basis, solely on that basis, then
they’ve committed a crime. Now we’ve had no reason to enforce a law on the basis of
sexual orientation.
I believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman. I believe that a family
should consist of one man and one woman. I don’t believe in gay adoption. I don’t
believe in involving the government in enforcing or encouraging the lifestyle of gays and
homosexuals. I just don’t believe that.
McCollum says the law should be changed to prohibit GLBT
Floridians from being foster parents
The following questions and answers were taken from an
interview
by the Florida Baptist Witness with Florida Attorney General
and
Republican candidate for governor Bill McCollum. Please make
sure you get to the last question where McCollum says that it
would be advisable to change the law and prohibit gay and
lesbian Floridians from being foster parents.
http://www.gofbw.com/print.asp?ID=11992
Do you support civil rights protections on the basis of sexual preference?
There’s a law in Florida that says that we have, and [as attorney general] I have a Civil
Rights Division, that we have a hate crimes issue. And that’s really where that comes
in for me. Whether or not somebody is discriminated against on the basis of race,
religion, sexual orientation or whatever that they should not be. And if somebody
commits a crime on that basis, solely on that basis, then
they’ve committed a crime. Now we’ve had no reason to enforce a law on the basis of
sexual orientation.
I believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman. I believe that a family
should consist of one man and one woman. I don’t believe in gay adoption. I don’t
believe in involving the government in enforcing or encouraging the lifestyle of gays and
homosexuals. I just don’t believe that.
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You’ve already mentioned that you support the ban on homosexuals
to adopt, you’ve defended it in court as attorney general.
I have.
There’s been a scandal in that defense in that one of the expert
witnesses has come to have some question about his own
personal life – George Rekkers. Do you think the urging by your
office to include him in that case has ultimately undermined the
ability to defend the law?
to adopt, you’ve defended it in court as attorney general.
I have.
There’s been a scandal in that defense in that one of the expert
witnesses has come to have some question about his own
personal life – George Rekkers. Do you think the urging by your
office to include him in that case has ultimately undermined the
ability to defend the law?
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No, actually not. I believe that the law is very clear and I think we have a good chance to prevail
on it in court. The courts of Florida previously upheld this law. But we’re going through that
appellate process right now.
I would never have chosen Rekkers had I know what we now know today, but the reality is my
appellate lawyers – where this is ultimately going, to the state Supreme Court, because that’s
what the Department of Children and Families wants, they want to seek a determination of the
constitutionality of that law and we’re defending its constitutionality – my appellate lawyers tell
me we needed a witness then, and I believed them to be correct, who could introduce
materials, studies. Rekkers was not an authority on this issue. He was an authority in the
sense that he was a scholar. He did research into papers that other people wrote. So he was
able to be used to get into evidence these matters that we needed. And it’s unfortunate that all
this publicity has come up over it, but the lawsuit, I think, is on sound ground and we’re
carrying it forward.
Florida permits homosexuals to serve as foster parents. That has been used as an
argument to undermine the ban on adoptions. Should homosexuals be permitted to serve
as foster parents in Florida?
Well, I personally don’t think so, but that is the law.
Should the law be changed?
I think that it would be advisable. I really do not think that we should have homosexuals
guiding our children. I think that it’s a lifestyle that I don’t agree with. I realize a lot of people do.
It’s my personal faith, religious faith, that I don’t believe that the people who do this should be
raising our children. It’s not a natural thing. You need a mother and a father. You need a man
and a woman. That’s what God intended.
Copyright © AMBIENTE MAGAZINE. Do not reproduce without citing this source
on it in court. The courts of Florida previously upheld this law. But we’re going through that
appellate process right now.
I would never have chosen Rekkers had I know what we now know today, but the reality is my
appellate lawyers – where this is ultimately going, to the state Supreme Court, because that’s
what the Department of Children and Families wants, they want to seek a determination of the
constitutionality of that law and we’re defending its constitutionality – my appellate lawyers tell
me we needed a witness then, and I believed them to be correct, who could introduce
materials, studies. Rekkers was not an authority on this issue. He was an authority in the
sense that he was a scholar. He did research into papers that other people wrote. So he was
able to be used to get into evidence these matters that we needed. And it’s unfortunate that all
this publicity has come up over it, but the lawsuit, I think, is on sound ground and we’re
carrying it forward.
Florida permits homosexuals to serve as foster parents. That has been used as an
argument to undermine the ban on adoptions. Should homosexuals be permitted to serve
as foster parents in Florida?
Well, I personally don’t think so, but that is the law.
Should the law be changed?
I think that it would be advisable. I really do not think that we should have homosexuals
guiding our children. I think that it’s a lifestyle that I don’t agree with. I realize a lot of people do.
It’s my personal faith, religious faith, that I don’t believe that the people who do this should be
raising our children. It’s not a natural thing. You need a mother and a father. You need a man
and a woman. That’s what God intended.
Copyright © AMBIENTE MAGAZINE. Do not reproduce without citing this source
