What do Ohio and Florida have in common? Well, aside from a political favoring of the Bush administration, they both have legislators pushing hard for bans not only on gay marriage, but on gay adoption, as well.

The difference? Florida already has this ban. And it has since 1977.

Largely due to the anti-gay-rights antics of an American singer named Anita Bryant, my sunny home state has denied homeless children loving homes for almost 30 years. Recently, Ohio legislators have been pushing to follow suit.

Does calling the children “homeless” sound like a harsh way to put it? Sure, but I’m only going with what Rev. Russell Johnson, a prominent leader in the Ohio fight to ban gay adoption, himself stated: “This is not an issue about gays,” he said, “This is about children.”

And it is.

I don’t understand why so many government officials’ insist that children in orphanages be raised there, without parents, instead of being adopted into a stable home environment. As a citizen of the only state in the United States to legally ban gay adoption, this affects me. And with a gubernatorial race fast approaching, this issue has come to light again.

So the question comes up as it has before: should same-sex couples be allowed to adopt?

According to Florida state law, no. However, also according to Florida state law, same-sex couples are allowed to be foster parents.

And that, my friends, is where the anti-gay adoption legislation is most flawed.

Logically speaking, isn’t a couple capable of fostering children also capable of adopting them? Nevermind any issue of ethics or right and wrong – if we simply play by the rules of logic and reason, then Florida’s 1977 ban on gay adoption makes absolutely no sense.

Not only that, but disallowing foster parents from possibly adopting their children is cruel for both parties involved. It’s flat out wrong to remove a child from the arms of the only family he or she has ever known. I think that that process seems much more traumatizing than being raised in a family with two mothers or two fathers.

It’s time for a change, and I hope that this upcoming election will be a catalyst for that. Each of Florida’s four most popular gubernatorial candidates claims to support “family values.” Hopefully, whoever wins actually lives up to that claim – by moving more children out of orphanages and into the arms of loving parents, regardless of their sexual orientation.