Fort Lauderdale, Fla. ? Fort Lauderdale residents Richard Rogers and Bill Mullins challenge that a proposed amendment is a “sneaky” attempt to prohibit gay couples from ever accessing one another’s partnership benefits, such as health and life insurance coverage that married straight couples are legally allowed to share.

“They’re going to do away with any potential rights that gays may have to be treated equitably as a couple,” Rogers said.

Rogers and Mullins, both 68 and U.S. Army veterans, have been living together for 42 years since meeting in Washington, D.C. They joined five other gay couples in filing a legal challenge before the Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday.