JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Dan and Brent VanTice always knew they wanted to be parents, fighting to overturn Florida's bans on same sex marriage and adoption.
"We feel super blessed to be where we are with our family today," said Brent VanTice.
Now, they are fighting for their family which includes their two boys.
"The joke between us was even before our kids is we were two dads without kids because our heart was just in that place - that that's just who we were meant to be," VanTice told First Coast News.
They are among several plaintiffs who filed an 80 page lawsuit taking aim at the state's "Parental Rights in Education" law, which critics dubbed the 'Don't Say Gay' bill.
The suit was filed by attorneys for New York based Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP on behalf of Equality Florida, Family Equality, several parents and their children.
It prohibits teachers in kindergarten through third grade from leading classroom instruction on gender identity or sexual orientation.
Equality Florida is pushing for one outcome. "If the court is committed to the dignity and well-being of Florida's families and students, then there really is only one logical conclusion to a case like this one and finding that this law is blatantly unconstitutional," said Spokesperson Brandon Wolf.
The VanTice's say the debate has already had an impact on their sons.
"I was driving the kids to school on Valentines Day and I was just teasing one of my little guys and I said, 'Hey, if someone asks you who your favorite Valentine is, are you going to tell them your daddy?' And he said, 'No daddy. I can't because of the bill,'" Brent VanTice recalled.
In a statement, Governor DeSantis' communications director called the lawsuit a "political Hail-Mary to undermine parental rights in Florida."
There's no time frame on when it could be heard in court.