The Coalition for Fair Adoption announced its formation Friday and said members will make a coordinated effort to repeal Florida's ban against adoption by gays -- the only such law in the country.

''In the end, it is the thousands of children languishing in our foster care system who are hurt the most,'' Stratton Pollitzer, the group's South Florida director, said on the steps of the Miami-Dade County Courthouse. ``We are asking that people take an honest, unbiased look at the research on gay and lesbian parenting and on this adoption ban. The evidence is overwhelming: Sexual orientation plays no role whatsoever in a person's ability to be a good parent.''

The new coalition represents 20 organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, SAVE Dade and the Greater Miami National Council of Jewish Women.

Members will lobby legislators to repeal the ban during the 2005 legislative session.

Under Florida law, gays and lesbians can serve as foster parents, but cannot gain full parental rights through adoption. Supporters of the ban, including Gov. Jeb Bush, say it's in the best interests of children to be placed in homes with a mother and a father.

The ACLU has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court, asking it to reverse an appeals court ruling that narrowly upheld the law, a byproduct of Anita Bryant's anti-gay crusade. Doug Houghton, a gay trauma nurse from Miami and a plaintiff in the suit, proudly displayed photos of Oscar, the boy he has parented for nearly nine years as a legal guardian -- but whom he cannot adopt.

''He's changed my life and I believe I've changed his life, too,'' Houghton said. ``I'd really like a chance to make that legal.''

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