same-sex marriage

Fifty clergy in South Florida are among more than 1,000 religious leaders who have signed an amicus brief  before the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that anti-LGBTQ religious exemptions should not be allowed under the U.S. Constitution.

In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling guaranteeing the right to same-sex marriage, some Florida clergy members and lawmakers are mobilizing to ensure legal exemptions for religious organizations.

On July 1st, Chris Walker, a pastor at the Cathedral of Power International Church in Clermont, launched a petition on Change.org calling for Governor Rick Scott to sign a "Pastor Protection Act" into law. The petition has garnered over 22,000 signatures.

With the start of the new fiscal year on July 1st, a spate of laws is now in place in Florida. Among the many changes that went into effect was the repeal of a nearly four-decade-old ban on adoption by gay parents.

Gay and lesbian couples in Florida have legally been able to adopt since 2010, when an appeals court ruled that a 1977 ban on doing so was unconstitutional. But advocates worried that a court ruling wasn’t enough—so they took it to the legislature. The House and Senate passed a bill in April, and the governor signed it in June.
 

In a 5-to-4 vote, the Supreme Court says all states must provide marriage licenses between two people of the same sex, and all states must recognize same-sex marriages.

Florida has allowed same-sex marriages since January. But what happens now for the politicians in Florida who have opposed same-sex marriage, such as Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi? Will this be an issue in presidential campaigns?

Florida’s constitutional amendment banning gay marriage was passed by 62 percent of voters in 2008. But various lower court rulings last year found the ban to be unconstitutional, and federal judge Robert Hinkle agreed.

Now, same sex couples can marry in Florida, but four states have gay marriage cases pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.

After the big emotions of the wedding day come the economics of marriage: insurance, taxes, wills, bank accounts, property titles, credit card accounts, etcetera. 

Thousands of gay Floridians have gotten married since January 6, when their unions became legal in the state. Thousands more are now recognized as married if they wed in a place that allowed gay marriage prior to Florida's ban on same-sex marriages being overturned by a federal judge.

On the Florida Roundup, we discuss the important news of the week with the area's journalists. 

SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

This week same-sex couples across Florida were able to get a marriage license, the same time the Supreme Court may decide the issue for the entire nation or continue to leave it on a state-by-state basis.

RICK SCOTT'S SECOND TERM

Just after midnight on Tuesday morning, gay marriage became legal in Florida. But the first marriages started in Miami-Dade County about twelve hours earlier.

It was about 11:30 in the morning. Judge Sarah Zabel held a hearing and decided there was no need to wait. She lifted the stay on her ruling declaring Florida's ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional.

And gay couples could start getting married right away.

Our reporter John O'Connor was at the courthouse. And we had people at courthouses in Monroe, Broward and Palm Beach counties, too.

The counter on the wall of Miami-Dade County's marriage license office says 59. Deborah Shure and Aymarah Robles hold number 60.

Robles says they’ve been waiting 15 years to be able to marry each other. Minutes before, a Miami-Dade judge said same-sex couples could get marriage licenses.

“And I’m still crying and I don’t think it’s going to stop today," Robles says.

Shure and Robles ducked out after the verdict to grab an early spot in line. Dozens of couples followed.

About an hour later, their wait was over.

  In Fort Lauderdale, about 100 couples were issued legal marriage licenses starting at a minute after midnight. Some will have to endure the state's three-day waiting period before they can marry. But 30 or 40 same-sex pairs who qualified for waivers stayed behind to take their vows in a mass ceremony.

The first couple in line was the first to be married. Melissa Keller and Joanne Stiger got the special treatment of a ceremony in the court clerk's chapel with County Judge Kathleen McHugh officiating.