photo: Martin Gill Courtesy ACLU.org

MIAMI – Martin Gill, the plaintiff in the successful legal challenge to Florida’s anti-gay adoption ban, attended the White House Holiday Reception Dec. 16. The visit and invitation follows a direct appeal by Equality Florida to the President Obama asking him to spotlight the harm of Florida’s anti-gay adoption law which has since been struck down by the courts.

“I know I’m not representing just myself or even just my own children. I will be there on behalf of every child in need of a loving home and all the future families that will be formed because of our victory this year. Thank you for standing with me,” said Gill prior to his visit.

On Sept. 22, Gill and his family, represented by the ACLU, won a unanimous Third District Court of Appeals decision that found Florida’s adoption ban unconstitutional. The decision is binding statewide and, for the first time in 33 years, allows gay people to be considered as prospective adoptive parents in Florida.

Earlier in the year, Equality Florida facilitated Gill and his boys’ attendance at the Easter Egg Roll on the White House lawn. The picture of the two boys facing the oval office became a powerful emblem in the fight to end the ban. During the White House Pride event in June, Equality Florida’s Executive Director Nadine Smith was able to place that picture and a note in President Obama’s hand and ask for his help in denouncing anti-gay adoption law.