Florida: Third ruling favours same-sex marriage

Today 4 August 2014, a third judge ruled in favor of same-sex marriage in Florida.  This makes three victories within Florida alone, but has not made it legal for same-sex marriage throughout the state.

According to Freedomtomarry.org,

The ruling in today’s case, Brassner v. Lade, from Broward County Circuit Judge Dale Cohen, is the third marriage ruling in three weeks, following a July 17 ruling in Monroe County’s Huntsman v. Heavilin and July 25’s ruling in Miami-Dade County’s Pareto v. Ruvin.  In all 3 cases, judges ruled that banning same-sex couples from marrying is unconstitutional. All three rulings are stayed, and the two previous rulings have been appealed by Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.

For now, today’s decision only applies to Broward County. The next step for the Miami-Dade and Monroe County decisions is review by Florida’s 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals. Last week, the plaintiffs in both cases moved to consolidate their cases and filed a motion seeking review directly by the Florida Supreme Court (2014).

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As of this date, 19 states provide same-sex couples with the option to marry, and the number continues to grow as more LGBT+ couples step forward to challenge same-sex marriage bans.

We continue to support Florida’s same sex couples and the judges who have been working to push same-sex forward in the United States. We also urge those states with same-sex marriage bans to join in this historical move forward.

About Sean Weaver

Sean Weaver is a blogger, writer, and reader. He is a graduate student at Kutztown University, Pa studying English. Bodies and sexualities are his expertise. He spends his time being somewhat neurotic about the clothes he wears, the books he reads, the endless papers he writes, and his next hair cut. Queer is his middle name.