Florida Judge Strikes Down Same-Sex Marriage Ban in the State

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Summary: A judge in the state of Florida ruled this week that the state’s same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional, but marriages could not begin yet. 

A federal judge ruled that the same-sex marriage ban in the state of Florida is unconstitutional, according to a report from CNN.

  

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U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle did not allow marriages to begin occurring immediately though. He said in his ruling that his is one of 19 federal courts to defeat state laws banning same-sex marriage.

The ban in Florida was first signed into law back in 1977 and was added to the constitution of the state in 2008 after a referendum was passed. He said it violates the due process and equal protection provisions in the country’s constitution.

Hinkle’s ruling applies to same-sex marriages performed in the state of Florida and to those performed outside the state, but should be recognized in Florida.

“The Florida provisions that prohibit the recognition of same-sex marriages lawfully entered elsewhere, like the federal provision, are unconstitutional,” Hinkle writes. “So is the Florida ban on entering same-sex marriages.”

Hinkle did not permit same-sex marriages to begin because he does not want couples left in legal limbo should higher courts reverse his decision.

Equality Florida said the following after the ruling: “Florida put this discriminatory ban in place, and Florida should end it. Our families have waited too long already.”

The campaign spokesman for Governor Rick Scott, Greg Blair, said the following: “Scott respects the many views Floridians have on this issue, he believes in traditional marriage consistent with the constitutional amendment passed by voters in 2008.”

“There are several cases going through the court system,” Blair added, “and the governor respects that process.”