Same-sex marriage has been legal in Florida since January 6, 2015, as a result of a ruling in "Brenner v. Scott" from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida. The court ruled the state's same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional on August 21, 2014. The order was stayed temporarily. State attempts at extending the stay failed, with the U.S. Supreme Court denying further extension on December 19, 2014. In addition, a state court ruling in "Pareto v. Ruvin" allowed same-sex couples to obtain marriage licenses in Miami-Dade County on the afternoon of January 5, 2015. In another state case challenging the state's denial of marriage rights to same-sex couples, a Monroe County court in "Huntsman v. Heavilin" stayed enforcement of its decision pending appeal and the stay expired on January 6, 2015. Florida was the 35th U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage.
Florida passed a statute banning same-sex marriage in 1977 and added a prohibition on the recognition of marriages from other jurisdictions in 1997. Voters approved a constitutional amendment that banned both same-sex marriage and civil unions in 2008. The state also imposed criminal penalties on any county clerk who issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples. These laws, while unenforceable, remain on the books.
Statutory ban.
In 1977, following the success of the Save Our Children campaign in overturning an LGBT rights ordinance in Miami, the Florida Legislature enacted legislation banning same-sex marriage as well as adoption by gays and lesbians. State Senator Curtis Peterson, sponsor of the legislation, said it was designed to say "we are tired of you and wish you would go back in the closet." In 1997, the Florida Legislature overwhelmingly adopted its own "Defense of Marriage Act", which stated marriage was the "union between one man and one woman" and barred the state from recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states. Governor Lawton Chiles said: "I believe that, by and large, most Floridians are tolerant and will one day come to view a broader range of domestic partnerships as an acceptable part of life. But, that is not the case today." The bill became law without his signature.
According to a legal opinion provided to the Florida Court Clerks' Association in December 2014 in anticipation of an injunction in the case of "Brenner v. Scott", a clerk who granted marriage licenses to same-sex couples would face criminal penalties, a legal provision it called "apparently unique" to Florida. Penalties could include fines as high as $1,000 and up to a year in prison.
In August 2017, Senator Gary Farmer filed a bill to repeal the state's statutory ban on same-sex marriage. A similar bill was introduced to the House by Representative David Richardson in November 2017. The bills were unsuccessful. Senator Tina Polsky filed a bill to repeal the statutory ban in December 2022, but it failed to pass before the end of the legislative session. Senator Fabián Basabe proposed a similar bill in October 2023, which likewise failed to pass.
Constitutional amendment.
On November 4, 2008, voters approved Amendment 2, a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and civil unions in the state. A 60% approval rate was required to adopt the amendment; 62% of voters voted in favor. Get Engaged and Equal Marriage Florida, two organizations dedicated to overturning the constitutional amendment in the 2014 elections, were formed in 2013. However, no measure was placed on the 2014 ballot to repeal the same-sex marriage ban.
In October 2023, Senator Basabe filed a constitutional amendment to repeal the ban. The measure would have required approval by voters in a referendum scheduled for November 2024, but it died without a hearing in a Senate subcommittee in February 2024.
Lawsuits.
Several lawsuits for same-sex marriage rights were filed in federal and state courts in 2014 in the aftermath of the "United States v. Windsor" decision. Two courts ordered state officials to recognize a specific marriage established outside of Florida, a federal court in "Brenner v. Scott", and a state court in "Estate of Bangor".
Federal lawsuits.
"Wilson v. Ake".
In January 2005, Judge James S. Moody Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida upheld the state's same-sex marriage ban and ruled against a same-sex couple who sought to have their Massachusetts marriage recognized in Florida.
"Brenner v. Scott".
On February 28, 2014, civil rights attorneys filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida on behalf of a Florida same-sex couple who had married in Canada. The case, "Brenner v. Scott", was assigned to Judge Robert Lewis Hinkle. On March 13, 2014, attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union filed a similar suit, "Grimsley v. Scott", in the same court on behalf of South Florida LGBT advocacy group SAVE Dade and eight same-sex couples already married in other states, asking the court to order Florida to recognize their marriages. It named Governor Rick Scott and three other state officials as defendants. Judge Hinkle consolidated "Brenner" and "Grimsley" on April 21. On August 21, he ruled that Florida's statutory and constitutional bans on same-sex marriage were unconstitutional. He issued a stay pending appeal. He also granted immediate relief by ordering the state to recognize the marriage in New York in 2011 of the late Carol Goldwasser and plaintiff Arlene Goldberg and to revise the former's death certificate to reflect that marriage. The state defendants appealed to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals and the case was retitled "Brenner v. Armstrong". On December 3, the Eleventh Circuit denied a request to extend the stay from Hinkle's earlier ruling, and the U.S. Supreme Court on December 19 rejected Florida's request, with only Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissenting. Hinkle's stay expired on January 6, 2015, legalizing same-sex marriage in Florida.
On January 1, 2015, Judge Hinkle clarified his order after one defendant, the Washington County clerk, inquired whether he was ordering her to issue more than the one marriage license specified in his preliminary injunction. Hinkle explained that his order applied only to the specific circumstances presented by the plaintiffs seeking relief, but that all Florida clerks should understand from his ruling that the U.S. Constitution required them to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. He warned that he was prepared to add additional plaintiffs and defendants to the lawsuit and that the costs would be borne by the defendants.
More than a year after same-sex marriage began in Florida, Judge Hinkle issued a ruling that declared Florida's voter-approved amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage unconstitutional. On March 31, 2016, Hinkle issued a final injunction in the "Brenner" case, affirming the unconstitutionality of the now-defunct constitutional and statutory bans on same-sex marriage and clarifying the state government's requirement to treat same-sex couples equal in all aspects of Florida law. Judge Hinkle rejected the state's argument that summary judgment would be moot on the basis that the state government had shown little, if any, inclination to accept and follow the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in "Obergefell v. Hodges", which was decided on June 26, 2015.
State lawsuits.
Early state lawsuits.
In June 1993, Shawna Underwood and Donia Davis, a lesbian couple from Orange County, filed suit in "Underwood v. Florida", challenging Florida's statutory same-sex marriage ban enacted in 1977. The lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed after extensive discussions with LGBT rights legal experts who suggested that "Baehr v. Miike", a same-sex marriage case from Hawaii, would be a better first test on this issue.
In March 1997, a three-judge panel of the Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal affirmed a decision by Circuit Judge Edward M. Jackson in "Posik v. Layton" recognizing as enforceable a "nuptial-type agreement" between two women from Brevard County. The court pointed out that "[e]ven though the state has prohibited same-sex marriages and same-sex adoptions, it has not prohibited this type of agreement". The court ruled that the support agreement, which detailed that Layton would pay liquidated damages in the amount of $2,500 a month if the couple separated, was valid in Florida.
In 2001, after the initial dismissal of the lawsuit, the Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal ruled in "Frandsen v. County of Brevard" that the denial of marriage licenses to same-sex couples did not violate the State Constitution's equal protection for gender classifications.
The San Francisco 2004 same-sex weddings prompted a flurry of similar attempts at same-sex marriage in Florida. On February 25, attorney Ellis Rubin filed suit in Broward County on behalf of 170 gay men and lesbians who sought the right to marry. The suit, brought against Broward County Clerk Howard Forman was, according to the NBC News, "believed to be the first formal legal challenge to the state law specifying that marriage licenses be issued only to parties consisting of one male and one female." The suit was "Ash v. Forman". Broward Circuit Judge Richard Eade rejected a bid by Liberty Counsel to intervene in the case in support of the ban. The city of Key West passed a symbolic resolution in support of same-sex marriage in March 2004. On March 18, the Mayor of Tampa, Pam Iorio, signed an order, effective the following year, extending health care benefits to the domestic partners of city employees. Other cases were filed throughout the state: "Clayton v. Ake" in Hillsborough County, "Merritt v. Gardner" in Orange County, "Berman v. Wilkin" in Palm Beach County, and "Kelley v. Green" in Lee County. Liberty Counsel led counter suits against the couples in "a move designed to intimidate anyone suing for legal marriage", but they were later dropped. All the same-sex marriage cases were dismissed. A last case, "Higgs v. Kolhage", brought in Monroe County, was dismissed in February 2006.
"Pareto v. Ruvin".
On January 21, 2014, six same-sex couples, some of whom had children or grandchildren, filed a lawsuit in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court of Florida, challenging the state's ban on same-sex marriage. The plaintiffs alleged an equal protection violation of their rights under the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The suit was organized by Equality Florida. It named Miami-Dade County Clerk Harvey Ruvin as defendant because his office had refused to issue marriage licenses to the couples. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Sarah Zabel held a hearing in the case on July 2 and granted the plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment on July 25. She found that Florida's same-sex marriage ban and related statutes deprived couples due process and equal protection of the laws as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. She noted that under Florida Supreme Court precedent she needed to apply rational basis review to laws discriminating based on sexual orientation, but suggested the Florida Supreme Court revisit the question of the appropriate level of scrutiny on appeal. She stayed enforcement of her decision pending appeal. She lifted that stay on January 5, 2015, ordering Miami-Dade County to issue licenses to same-sex couples, which county officials began doing around noon that day. The first same-sex couples began marrying in the state on January 5, 2015. Catherina Pareto and Karla Arguello, plaintiffs in "Pareto", were the first couple to marry in Florida. Same-sex couples from across the state began marrying the next day, on January 6, when Judge Hinkle's stay in the "Brenner" case expired.
"Huntsman v. Heavilin".
On April 1, 2014, plaintiffs Aaron Huntsman and William Lee Jones filed suit in the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida against Monroe County Clerk Amy Heavilin, after they were denied a marriage license. Chief Judge Luis Garcia held an initial hearing in the case, "Huntsman v. Heavilin", on July 7. On July 17, Judge Garcia ruled in favor of the couple, overturning Florida's ban on same sex marriage. The judge, in declaring that Florida's same-sex marriage ban was unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment, found that marriage is a fundamental right and that same-sex marriage could not be construed as a "new right". He found that Florida violated the plaintiffs' rights under both the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment, but that the plaintiffs lacked standing to raise the question of the recognition of same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions. He ordered Monroe County to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples beginning on July 22, 2014. The Florida Attorney General, Pam Bondi, filed a notice of appeal with the Third District Court of Appeal the same day, which stayed enforcement of Garcia's ruling. Judge Garcia denied the plaintiffs' request to have the stay lifted, as did the Court of