Home » Take Action » Become a Student Activist » Case of the Month Archives » December 1999
Lesson Plan
"Is it Constitutional to Bar Lesbians and Gays from Adopting Children?"
Purpose
The purpose of this lesson plan is to illustrate how the Bill of Rights and Fourteenth Amendment principles of equality are used in the continuing debate about whether laws can discriminate against lesbians and gays by denying them the right to be adoptive parents. Florida statutes prohibit lesbians and gays from adopting solely on the basis of their sexual orientation.
Grade
9-12
Objectives
Students should be able to:
Understand the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause and how it applies to lesbians and gays
Understand the Florida statute that bars lesbians and gays from adopting ? even though lesbians and gays can be foster parents and legal guardians
Understand what experts call "the crisis in the foster care system," that is, the backlog in placing children who are ready for adoption in permanent adoptive homes
Materials
- Complaint in the Lofton v. Butterworth case
- ACLU handout: "Lesbian and Gay Rights"
- The text of the Fourteenth Amendment
- ACLU Fact Sheet: Overview of Lesbian and Gay Parenting, Adoption and Foster Care
Activities
- The teacher will give a thorough overview of the current challenge to the Florida statute that bars lesbians and gays from adopting in Florida as well as the fundamentals behind the Fourteenth Amendment.
- Students will scour newspapers and magazines for treatments on lesbians and gays ? from letters-to-the-editor to magazine and newspaper articles on hate crimes. They will bring these materials to class and discuss them. The teacher will make a list on the board about the different ways society treats gays and lesbians.
- The class will divide into three groups: (1) a panel of judges who must decide upon the placement of a child currently in foster care who has become eligible for adoption (either because his or her natural parents are deceased or a court has severed parental rights), (2) a legal team for the child, (3) a legal team representing a same-sex couple who have been foster care parents and who have submitted an application to adopt the child, and (4) a legal team for a state agency which argues that the child should not be adopted until there is a heterosexual family that is available. The class will hold a mock trial where the legal teams present each side of the issue and the panel of judges must decide the outcome.
