Frank Martin Gill took in two young boys on a temporary basis five years ago. Now, the North Miami, Fla., foster father said he would be “absolutely devastated” if the state removed his two foster children.

“Children need permanency, and I feel strongly they need permanency with our family,” Gill told a horde of reporters, lawyers and spectators Wednesday after his attorneys challenged the constitutionality of a 1977 state law banning adoptions by gay parents at a hearing before the 3rd District Court of Appeal.