"People need to be judged on their individual fitness as to whether or not they can be adoptive parents," said Matt Coles, national director of the Lesbian and Gay Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union. "This law is going to come down."

State Rep. Randy Ball, R-Titusville, who was interviewed on ABC News' Primetime Thursday by host Diane Sawyer, supported the state's ban.

"I feel very strongly that allowing homosexuals to adopt is a bad idea, primarily because of evidence which conclusively shows that the homosexual lifestyle is a very destructive one," Ball said.

A social scientist on the program disputed Ball's claims, saying there isn't any correlation between a child raised by homosexuals and a destructive livestyle.

The ACLU's launching of a national campaign to spur the repeal of the 25-year-old law coincides with the ABC segment featuring O'Donnell. In it, the actress with a Miami vacation home identifies herself as a gay parent opposed to the Florida law.

An e-mail campaign directed at Bush and the state's adoption agency has generated 80,000 messages, including about 10,000 from Florida, Coles said.

The repeal push includes a book, "Too High a Price," with an introduction by O'Donnell.

A federal judge rejected a challenge to the constitutionality of the law last year, but civil liberties groups are appealing to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.

Florida is the only state with a law prohibiting all gay people, both couples and individuals, from adopting. It doesn't bar gays from being foster parents.

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