Orlando Sentinel Calls On Bill McCollum To Drop Gay Adoption Appeal

In a blistering editorial attacking Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum over the Rekers scandal, the Orlando Sentinel has called on McCollum to drop his appeal of the decision to allow gay adoptions as "atonement" for hiring Rekers.

The judge in the Florida case, Cindy Lederman, wound up declaring the state's gay adoption ban unconstitutional. In her ruling, Ms. Lederman wrote that Mr. Rekers' testimony was neither "credible nor worthy of forming the basis for public policy." Yet the attorney general's office appealed the ruling. Incredible. Since the revelations about Mr. Rekers, Mr. McCollum has been on the defensive about hiring him. "There wasn't a whole lot of choice," he said. The dearth of credible experts to defend the ban should have told the attorney general something. Reputable studies have shown parents' quality, not their sexual orientation, is what counts. No wonder Florida is almost alone in barring gay adoption. Mr. McCollum can atone for his mistake by dropping the appeal, and clearing the way for Florida to abandon this archaic law.