Florida Becomes 36th State To Legalize Same-Sex Marriage
Florida’s ban on
same-sex marriage
ended statewide at the stroke of midnight Monday, and court clerks in
some Florida counties wasted no time, issuing marriage licenses and
performing weddings for same-sex couples overnight.
But they were beaten to the punch by a Miami judge who found no need
to wait until the statewide ban expired. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Sarah
Zabel presided over Florida’s first legally recognized same-sex
marriages Monday afternoon.
Still, most counties held off on official ceremonies until after
midnight early Tuesday, when U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle’s
ruling that Florida’s same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional took
effect in all 67 counties. Florida’s attorney general, Pam Bondi, is
still pursuing state and federal appeals seeking to uphold the ban
voters approved in 2008, but her effort to block these weddings until
the courts finally rule was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court.
And now that same-sex marriage is a reality in Florida, Bondi’s
spokeswoman told The Associated Press “the judge has ruled, and we wish
these couples the best.”
The addition of Florida’s 19.9 million people means 70 percent of
Americans now live in the 36 states where gay marriage is legal.
“It’s been a long time coming. We’re just so excited and so happy,”
said Osceola County Commissioner Cheryl Grieb moments after she married
Patti Daugherty, her partner of 22 years, at the Osceola County
Courthouse in Kissimmee, just south of Orlando. Dressed in matching
white pants and white embroidered shirts, the couple stood under a
canopy of lace and ribbons as County Clerk of Court Armando Ramirez
officiated and U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., served as a witness. A
countdown clock was placed in the front of the room, and supporters
counted down to midnight 10 seconds before the clock struck 12.
“I’m hyped up at the moment,” said Grieb, whose marriage was the
first in Osceola County and was followed by 27 others in the early
morning hours.
Outside the courthouse, about 20 protesters held signs reading “God
says male and female should be married” and “Sodom and Gomorrah,” but
same-sex marriage supporters ignored them.
In Key West, at the southern tip of Florida, Aaron Huntsman and
William Lee Jones, exchanged nuptials early Tuesday dressed in matching
black tuxedos with blue vests, shortly after getting the first marriage
license issued to a same-sex couple in the Florida Keys. Several hundred
people attended the wedding staged on the steps of the Monroe County
Courthouse.
credit: bossip.com
