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 Circuit Court Judge Sarah Zabel in Miami-Dade County said
Florida's ban violated the constitutional rights to due process and
equal protection, as well as offended "basic human decency."
Florida's attorney general quickly appealed the ruling.
But Zabel said the slew of recent verdicts showed it is
"increasingly obvious" it is not permissible to deny couples the
right to marry solely on the basis of their sexual orientation, and
that doing so served no governmental purpose.
"It serves only to hurt, to discriminate, to deprive same-sex
couples and their families of equal dignity, to label and treat them
as second-class citizens, and to deem them unworthy of participation
in one of the fundamental institutions of our society," she wrote.
Since the Supreme Court ordered the federal government last year to
extend benefits to legally married gay couples, every federal and
state court that has taken up the issue of same-sex marriage – about
20 courts - has ruled against state bans.
Most of these rulings are on hold.
Don Price Johnston, a 44-year-old plaintiff in the Miami lawsuit,
said he was thrilled with the ruling and that he did not mind that
it had been stayed for now.
"It's not like we're going to lose. We just have to wait," he said.
"I have been waiting for more than 25 years for this right. A few
more months won't kill me."
Last week a judge whose jurisdiction includes the Florida Keys
ordered the Monroe County Clerk of Court to begin issuing marriage
licenses to same-sex couples.
That ruling was automatically put on hold after Florida's attorney
general, Pam Bondi, a Republican, said she planned to appeal it and
that the final decision on the issue must come from the U.S. Supreme
Court.
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While that ruling applied to only one county, it was the first
decision in several court cases across the state challenging the
same-sex marriage ban, which was approved by Florida voters in 2008.
Republican Governor Rick Scott has adopted a more neutral position
than Bondi, saying that while he supports traditional marriage
consistent with the 2008 amendment, he does not believe anyone
should be discriminated against for any reason.
Another plaintiff in the Miami lawsuit, Todd Delmay, 42, said that
while it would be great to see same-sex marriage legally permitted
in Monroe County and Miami-Dade, supporters had more far-reaching
ambitions.
"We really want marriage equality for the entire state, and to do
this we need to get it in the hands of the Florida Supreme Court,"
Delmay said.
(Reporting by Zachary Fagenson; Writing by Daniel Wallis; Editing by
Sandra Maler and Eric Beech)
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