Florida

States Facing Constitutional Amendments Banning Same-sex Marriage UU Involvement • California • Florida • Georgia • Maryland • Massachusetts • New York • Oregon • Virginia • Washington • Complete Freedom to Marry Coverage

Marriage Ceremony in Florida photo by Matt Merkel

Freedom to Marry Banner photo by Matt Merkel

Rev. Marni Harmony photo by Matt Merkel

Background: In 1997, the Florida Legislature overwhelmingly adopted the Defense of Marriage Act, which specifically states marriage is the ''union between one man and one woman'' and bars the state from recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states. That ruling, however, has not stopped same sex couples from working to change the law in the state.

On Feburary 25, 2004, Attorney Ellis Rubin filed suit in Ft. Lauderdale's Broward County Court on behalf of 170 gays and lesbians who seek the right to marry. The suit, brought against Broward County Clerk Howard Forman is, according to Ft. Lauderdale's NBC news affiliate, "believed to be the first formal legal challenge to the state law specifying that marriage licenses be issued only to parties consisting of one male and one female." Meanwhile in Tampa, Mayor Pam Iorio signed an order on March 18 which will extend health benefits, effective next year, to domestic partners of city employees, a legal designation that could include same-sex couples.

The next day, eight same sex couples, including UU minister the Rev. Gail Gesenhainer and her partner, Celeste DeRoche, went to Orlando City Hall and requested licenses to be married. Michelle Gervy, a deputy clerk at the Orange County Courthouse, handed the couples a copy of the state statute, and informed the couples that licenses could not be issued. The couples indicated that they wanted to raise awareness of marriage as a matter of civil rights, and several participated later in the day in a union ceremony sponsored by the First Unitarian Church of Orlando .

Earlier that week, the city of Key West passed a resolution in support of same sex marriage, however the move was a symbolic one, since Florida law only permits counties to issue marriage licenses. And in Key West organizers of a new White Ribbon Campaign for equality launched an effort on March 16 at the Key West City Commission meeting to emphasize the discrepancy between simultaneously extolling freedom and banning gay marriages. On March 22, 2004, gay and lesbian couples gathered in Gaineseville at the Alachua County Courthouse and elsewhere around the state as they attempted to obtain marriage licenses and were turned away.

Despite the denial of licenses to same sex couples, organizers of efforts to elevate the attention of the state toward equality for all its citizens, insist that the issue will not go away, and that couples and clergy will continue to make public statements and organize public action to call attention to this issue.

Media Coverage (all of the below links are for external news organizations, some may require a username/password and others may archive stories after a period of time):

• 10/24/04 - South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Gay couples renew vows at annual rights conference by Nicole T. Lesson
• 3/22/04 - wruf.com: "Gainesville gay and lesbian residents rally at courthouse"
• 3/20/04 - Orlando Sentinel: "Gays say 'I do' after clerks say they can't: Seven same-sex couples denied marriage certificates tied the knot anyway" by Kate Santich
• 3/19/04 - Miami Herald: "Eight gay couples refused marriage licenses in Orlando" by Mike Sschneider - Associated Press
• 3/19/04 - Orlando Sentinel : "Gay couples denied marriage licenses" By Kate Santich
• 3/19/04 - Floriday Today (The Associated Press): "Eight gay couples refused marriage licenses in Orlando"
• 3/17/04 - 365gay.com: "More Cities Call For Legal Gay Marriage" by Fidel Ortega
• 3/13/04 - tbo.com news: "Florida Might Become Next Battleground In Gay Marriage Debate" By Ted Byrd
• 2 /25/04 - nbc6.net: "Gay Couples File Suit In Broward County: Couples Seek Right To Marry"

For further information on same sex marriage in Florida (all of the below links are for external sites):

• Equality Florida
• Laws concerning same-sex marriage in Florida (Human Rights Campaign)
• Proposed legislation concerning same-sex marriage in Florida (Human Rights Campaign)
• Link to contact Florida Legislators 

Archival Coverage from the UUA:

Additional Resources:

• "For Richer, For Poorer: Same-Sex Couples and the Freedom to Marry as a Civil Right" by Evan Wolfson. Drum Major Institute, June, 2003
• Marriage Equality Kit for Same-Sex Couples , from GLAAD
• "Why gay marriages just don't want to go away" By Frank Rich - The New York Times (published 3/1/04 in the Oakland Tribune)

Archival Coverage from the UUA:

• Comprehensive UUA.ORG Coverage of Freedom to Marry, for all People
• UUA President Opposes Call for Constitutional Amendment (2/22/04)
• Listing of UU ministers who will not sign marriage licenses until same sex couples are allowed to marry

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