Florida court approves adoption by openly gay man

Robert Lamarche became the fourth Floridian who is gay to publicly emerge as an adoptive parent. He is the first gay Floridian from north of Miami-Dade to publicly disclose an adoption. A judge approved the adoption last month, in a Broward County juvenile courtroom. In her decision, Judge Hope T. Bristol wrote that the adoption, “is in the minor’s best interest.” The state law, Bristol wrote, is unconstitutional – and the state is not objecting to the adoption. Lamarche is adopting a teenage boy he has fostered for about two years.

Florida law allows gay and lesbian people to foster children, but does not permit them to adopt.

Lamarche, who lives in Palm Beach County but works in Fort Lauderdale, met the boy whom he calls his son in 2006. The boy was about 11 years old and had moved from home to home as the result of abuse and neglect. The boy, now 15, is not being named to protect his privacy.