Living Out Loud with Darian

I'm starting to be convinced that there is something in the water in Florida that is producing homophobes in greater amounts than the rest of the country. From the notoriously anti-gay Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle to possible Republican Vice-Presidential candidate Charlie Crist, Florida's elected officials seem to have a problem with any pro-gay legislation and the latest homophobic attack comes from State Rep. Darryl Rouson.


It seems Rouson is back peddling on statements he made regarding gay adoption in the Sunshine State during a 2006 television program after being called out for his vicious attacks on gay parents by Equality Florida executive director Nadine Smith.


In a brief letter to Smith, Rouson expresses regret saying he should have been "more tolerant and less damning on the whole matter of whether lesbian or gay lifestyle is wrong. I regret that my words caused pain or demonstrated condemnation for fellow human beings."


A sincere apology or political pandering? Read the entire letter here via The Bilerico Project and get into the video below.




Florida implemented a ban on gay adoption in 1977 and the Florida Supreme Court refused to hear a challenge to the discriminatory law that prohibits gays from adopting in early 2005 allowing the ruling to stand.


Rouson uses many of the same tired arguments repeatedly used by the opposition that a child being raised by two same-sex parents would somehow suffer emotional and psychological damage despite research showing otherwise.


Republican Presidential candidate John McCain found himself in hot water last month after making the same idiotic statements on gay adoption.


For those of you who want to get to the truth of the matter then Kara Suffredini, Director of Public Policy at The Family Equality Council lays it all out.


These are the facts about American families. According to the 2000 census, the vast majority - more than 75%‹of American households differ in structure from two married, heterosexual parents and their biological children. We are a nation of blended and multi-generational families, adoptive and foster families, and families headed by single parents, divorced parents, unmarried parents, same-sex couples and more. As an adoptive parent himself, McCain should be well aware of this. As a presidential candidate, he should seek to honor and support the many kinds of families that exist, rather than dismiss the vast majority of households in this country as second-tier.


This is what is true about lesbians and gays raising children: 30 years of scientifically valid research universally demonstrates that LGBT families are just as nurturing for children's growth and development as heterosexual families.