The appellate ruling affirmed a 2008 decision by Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman, who presided over a weeklong trial in which Martin Gill and his partner sought to overturn the law and adopt two half-brothers Gill had been raising as foster children. The state called two expert witnesses, both with religious affiliations, to testify that children raised by gays suffered more mental illness and were more likely to engage in negative behavior.