Same-Sex Couples Granted Right To Marry In Florida Keys

Today in Florida another blow was dealt to the fight to keep same-sex couples from being able to get married. Circuit Judge Luis M. Garcia overturned the state’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage on Thursday after a legal challenge by Key West residents Aaron Hunstman and William Lee Jones. They are represented by Bernadette Restivo of the law firm Restivo, Reilly & Vigil-Farinas LLC.

“The court is aware that the majority of voters oppose same-sex marriage, but it is our country’s proud history to protect the rights of the individual, the rights of the unpopular and the rights of the powerless, even at the cost of offending the majority,” Garcia wrote in his decision. “Whether it is … when Nazi supremacists won the right to march in Skokie, Illinois, a predominantly Jewish neighborhood; or when a black woman wanted to marry a white man in Virginia; or when black children wanted to go to an all-white school, the Constitution guarantees and protects ALL of its citizens from government interference with those rights.”

Garcia’s ruling is an incredible victory for same-sex couples but it only clears the way for gays to marry in one single Florida county: Monroe.

Garcia concluded the ban violates the rights of gays and lesbians under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees due process and equal protection under the law.

In anticipation of a run on marriage licenses Garcia ordered this ruling not take affect until Tuesday.

At this time, 19 states and the District of Columbia have legalized same-sex marriage.

A number of other state bans have been struck down as unconstitutional this year but have been stayed pending appeal.

As I’m finishing this article, State Attorney Pam Bondi has already filed an appeal.

by William Pinyon