Gay adoption plaintiff, family invited to White House Easter Egg Roll

Among the hundreds of families invited to the 2010 Easter Egg Roll hosted by President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama on Sunday, April 4 were Martin Gill, his partner, and their two young children.

Gill is currently challenging Florida's 40-year-old ban on gay adoptions. Despite a 2008 ruling, which stated that the ban is unconstitutional, it has remained in place. An amendment repealing the ban was considered in March of this year by both Florida's House and Senate, but it disappeared quickly. "There's many parents who serve as foster parents for years and are denied the right to adopt because of their orientation," Sen. Charlie Justice, who filed the amendment and then promptly withdrew it, told the "Miami Herald" in last month.

Gill views his family's inclusion in the Easter Egg Roll as a positive step forward. "I think it's a statement from the Obama administration that they don't discriminate," he told NBC 6 WTVJ in Miami last week. "Inviting us knowing that we are plaintiffs in this lawsuit, I think, yeah, it's a pretty strong statement." Gill called the invitation "extremely gratifying," and said that he considers it a "strong statement" against discrimination.