Gill was at center of gay adoption battle in Florida
Come out and honor Martin Gill, the man who changed the thinking of the people and officials in the State of Florida during the eighth annual Equality Florida Broward Gala. The event, which will recognize Gill’s perseverance during the adoption battle of his two sons, will take place on Sunday, Nov. 14 at 5 p.m. at the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Gill will receive the Voice for Equality Award during the gala.
Gill’s perseverance made national news as, instead of laying down and following Florida’s ban on gay adoption, he fought, with the help of the ACLU, to get the state to change their views and permit him to adopt his two foster sons.
In November 2008, a Florida juvenile court judge ruled that Gill should be able to adopt the two young brothers he and his partner had been fostering since 2004. However, the state of Florida appealed this decision to Florida’s Third District Court of Appeals.
On Sept 22, that same court ruled that Florida’s law banning adoption by gay people is unconstitutional because it has no rational relationship to the best interests of children. The state’s Department of Children and Families, Gov. Charlie Crist and Attorney General Bill McCollum decided not to appeal the court’s ruling to the Florida Supreme Court, thus killing Florida’s 33-year ban on gay adoption, which went all the way back to the days of Anita Bryant.
“Equality for LGBT people in Florida has entered a new era,” said Brian Winfield, Equality Florida’s communications director, “Martin Gill is the primary catalyst who has brought that about by courageously refusing to allow the state to take his boys away and for standing up for them for years in court battles and ultimately winning, thus bringing a three-decade old bigoted, harmful state law to its knees.”
Tickets to the gala are $125 and can be purchased by at www.eqfl.org.
