As the first wave of Floridians said their wedding vows in Miami-Dade County Monday afternoon, Attorney General Pam Bondi's staff was busy penning a statement ripped from the chorus of a certain 2010 smash hit by CeeLo Green.
"The judge has ruled, and we wish these couples the best," reads a statement a Bondi spokeswoman sent to numerous news outlets Monday, including the Associated Press.
On New Year's Day, Judge Robert Hinkle said a ruling declaring a ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional applied to all 67 Florida counties.
On Monday, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Sarah Zabel who lifted a stay in that county, and marriage ceremonies began at around 1:30 in the afternoon, reports the News Service of Florida, including two Zabel herself officiated.
On Tuesday, same-sex couples across the state will be able to marry, and some counties are marking the occasion with special events.
Hillsborough County Clerk Pat Frank has said she plans to officiate numerous same-sex wedding at once at Chillura Courthouse Square Park in downtown Tampa Tuesday at noon.
Across the bay, St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman plans on performing a ceremony at City Hall Tuesday at 2pm.
While Bondi appears to have backed down, other strident marriage equality opponents (sigh) vow to carry on their fight.
John Stemberger, president of the anti-marriage equality group Florida Family Policy Council, said Monday the group wasn't giving up on its effort to stop gays from marrying despite a nationwide cultural shift away from intolerance of non-traditional marriages.
From the News Service of Florida:
"Tomorrow is not the end of this," Stemberger said during a news conference in Tallahassee. "The Supreme Court still has the final say-so. Should the Supreme Court rule for state's rights, I think you are going to see the Florida marriage amendment immediately reinvigorated, in terms of its authority. Then, we are going to have a confused patchwork of couples who are legitimately married, same-sex couples who now have marriages that are presumptively unconstitutional somehow and same-sex couples who perhaps want to be married but can't be because of the authority of the Florida marriage amendment."
...Orrrrr, you could just live and let live, guy.
