Mississippi same-sex couples are still in reverie after a federal court adjudged as unconstitutional the state's banning the adoption of same-sex couples. This latest ruling made it legal for same-sex couples to adopt in all 50 U.S. states.
She Knows stated that U.S. District Judge Daniel Jordan issued a preliminary injunction on Mississippi's ban on gay adoption on the ground of unconstitutionality. Lifting the prohibition on Mississippi's same-sex couple adoption resulted in the legalization of said practice in all 50 states in the U.S.
Citing the decision of the Supreme Court in legalizing same-sex marriage, Jordan wrote that if same-sex marriage is legal, then they are likewise entitled to acts and incidents relative to a lawful marriage, which includes adoption.
One of those benefited by the court's ruling was Kathy Garner. She said, "I am overwhelmed with joy." Garner and wife Susan Hrostowski have been wanting to adopt Hudson Garner, and the recent ruling will now allow them to do so.
""We are so overwhelmed with joy at the ruling," says plaintiff Susan Hrostowski in MS adoption case. She can now adopt her 16 y.o. son.
— Southern Equality (@CSElive) March 31, 2016
According to Huffington Post, four same-sex couples filed the lawsuit last year. They were also joined by two organizations that advocate LGBT rights: Family Equality Council and Campaign for Southern Equality.
Roberta Kaplan, the lead counsel for the plaintiffs said, "Two sets of our clients have waited many (almost 9 and 16) years to become legal parents to the children they have loved and cared for since birth." She is hoping that with the latest ruling, it would now be clear that any discrimination towards gay people because of their sexual orientation is unconstitutional.
Mississippi has taken a conservative stance on same-sex marriage and they adopted a law in 2000 which prohibited same gender couples from adopting a child. Other states also have a similar ban, but they had been overturned, leaving Mississippi the only state which still imposed the prohibition. Now, the preliminary injunction has the effect of lifting the prohibition, legalizing same-sex couples adoption in all 50 states in the U.S.
