Recognition of same-sex unions in Florida
Encyclopedia
Under current Florida
law, same-sex marriages, civil unions, and domestic partnerships are not recognized. Same-sex marriage and civil unions were constitutionally banned on November 6, 2008 with 62% of the vote. In Florida, at least 60% of the population must approve a ballot measure for it to become the law.
However, according to recent polls, the majority of Floridians support some form of legal recognition for same-sex couples. A June 2011 poll found that 67% of Florida voters supported legal recognition of same-sex couples in the form of either same-sex marriage or civil unions.
February 25, 2004: Attorney Ellis Rubin
filed suit in Ft. Lauderdale's Broward County Court on behalf of 170 gays and lesbians who seek the right to marry. The suit, brought against Broward County Clerk Howard Forman is, according to Ft. Lauderdale's NBC news affiliate, "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." Meanwhile in Tampa, Mayor Pam Iorio signed an order on March 18 which will extend health benefits, effective next year, to domestic partners of city employees, a legal designation that could include same-sex couples. The next day, eight same sex couples, including UU minister the Rev. Gail Gesenhainer and her partner, Celeste DeRoche, went to Orlando City Hall and requested licenses to be married. Michelle Gervy, a deputy clerk at the Orange County Courthouse
, handed the couples a copy of the state statute, and informed the couples that licenses could not be issued. The couples indicated that they wanted to raise awareness of marriage as a matter of civil rights, and several participated later in the day in a union ceremony sponsored by the First Unitarian Church of Orlando. Earlier that week, the city of Key West passed a resolution in support of same sex marriage, however the move was a symbolic one, since Florida law only permits counties to issue marriage licenses. And in Key West organizers of a new White Ribbon Campaign for equality launched an effort on March 16 at the Key West City Commission meeting to emphasize the discrepancy between simultaneously extolling freedom and banning gay marriages.
March 22, 2004: Gay and lesbian couples gathered in Gaineseville at the Alachua County Courthouse and elsewhere around the state as they attempted to obtain marriage licenses and were turned away. Despite the denial of licenses to same sex couples, organizers of efforts to elevate the attention of the state toward equality for all its citizens, insist that the issue will not go away, and that couples and clergy will continue to make public statements and organize public action to call attention to this issue.
A poll conducted by The Miami Herald and St. Petersburg Times found that 65% of Floridians oppose same-sex marriage, while 27% are supportive and 8% are undecided. A majority, however, believe that same-sex couples should have equal rights as married heterosexual couples. Only 41% are supportive of President Bush’s push for a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
July 2004 – Florida Times-Union and South Florida Sun-Sentinel Poll –
Only 2% Name Same-Sex Marriage As Most Important Issue In Presidential Election of 2004.
In a survey conducted by The Florida Times-Union and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 600 likely Florida voters were asked to name the most important issue determining their vote for president. 2% of those polled named same-sex marriage as their biggest concern, while 26% said it was jobs and the economy, 16% said the situation in Iraq, and 15% said the war on terrorism.
January 2009 - A January 2009 Quinnipiac
poll found that 35% of Florida voters supported only civil unions and an additional 27% supported full marriage rights. 31% believed that same-sex couples should not receive any form of recognition.
March 2011 - A March 2011 survey by Public Policy Polling
found that 28% of Florida voters supported the legalization of same-sex marriage
, while 31% supported civil unions, 37% were against all legal recognition of same-sex couples, and 4% were unsure.
June 2011 - A June 2011 survey by Public Policy Polling found that 37% of Florida voters supported the legalization of same-sex marriage, while 53% opposed it and 10% were not sure. A separate question on the same survey found that 67% of Florida voters supported legal recognition of same-sex couples, with 33% supporting same-sex marriage, 34% supporting civil unions but not marriage, 31% opposing all legal recognition, and 1% not sure.
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
law, same-sex marriages, civil unions, and domestic partnerships are not recognized. Same-sex marriage and civil unions were constitutionally banned on November 6, 2008 with 62% of the vote. In Florida, at least 60% of the population must approve a ballot measure for it to become the law.
However, according to recent polls, the majority of Floridians support some form of legal recognition for same-sex couples. A June 2011 poll found that 67% of Florida voters supported legal recognition of same-sex couples in the form of either same-sex marriage or civil unions.
Domestic partnership
On January 19, 2010, Miami passed Benefits for Domestic Partnership couples. Domestic partnership is also allowed in Broward County.History
1997: The Florida Legislature overwhelmingly adopted the Defense of Marriage Act, which specifically states marriage is the "union between one man and one woman" and bars the state from recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states. That ruling, however, has not stopped same sex couples from working to change the law in the state.February 25, 2004: Attorney Ellis Rubin
Ellis Rubin
Ellis S. Rubin was an American attorney in Miami, Florida who gained national fame for handling a variety of highly publicized cases in a legal career that spanned 53 years. He was famous for his innovative defenses and his propensity for handling lost causes. Rubin won the first case in Florida...
filed suit in Ft. Lauderdale's Broward County Court on behalf of 170 gays and lesbians who seek the right to marry. The suit, brought against Broward County Clerk Howard Forman is, according to Ft. Lauderdale's NBC news affiliate, "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." Meanwhile in Tampa, Mayor Pam Iorio signed an order on March 18 which will extend health benefits, effective next year, to domestic partners of city employees, a legal designation that could include same-sex couples. The next day, eight same sex couples, including UU minister the Rev. Gail Gesenhainer and her partner, Celeste DeRoche, went to Orlando City Hall and requested licenses to be married. Michelle Gervy, a deputy clerk at the Orange County Courthouse
Orange County Courthouse (Florida)
The Orange County Courthouse, located in Orlando, Florida, United States, comprises the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida and its associated offices, including Orange County's County Court. "The [courthouse] complex includes a 23-level courthouse tower, two five-story office buildings for the...
, handed the couples a copy of the state statute, and informed the couples that licenses could not be issued. The couples indicated that they wanted to raise awareness of marriage as a matter of civil rights, and several participated later in the day in a union ceremony sponsored by the First Unitarian Church of Orlando. Earlier that week, the city of Key West passed a resolution in support of same sex marriage, however the move was a symbolic one, since Florida law only permits counties to issue marriage licenses. And in Key West organizers of a new White Ribbon Campaign for equality launched an effort on March 16 at the Key West City Commission meeting to emphasize the discrepancy between simultaneously extolling freedom and banning gay marriages.
March 22, 2004: Gay and lesbian couples gathered in Gaineseville at the Alachua County Courthouse and elsewhere around the state as they attempted to obtain marriage licenses and were turned away. Despite the denial of licenses to same sex couples, organizers of efforts to elevate the attention of the state toward equality for all its citizens, insist that the issue will not go away, and that couples and clergy will continue to make public statements and organize public action to call attention to this issue.
Public Opinion
March 2004 – Miami Herald and St. Petersburg Times Poll – 65% Oppose Same-Sex Marriage, Majority Support Civil Unions.A poll conducted by The Miami Herald and St. Petersburg Times found that 65% of Floridians oppose same-sex marriage, while 27% are supportive and 8% are undecided. A majority, however, believe that same-sex couples should have equal rights as married heterosexual couples. Only 41% are supportive of President Bush’s push for a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
July 2004 – Florida Times-Union and South Florida Sun-Sentinel Poll –
Only 2% Name Same-Sex Marriage As Most Important Issue In Presidential Election of 2004.
In a survey conducted by The Florida Times-Union and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 600 likely Florida voters were asked to name the most important issue determining their vote for president. 2% of those polled named same-sex marriage as their biggest concern, while 26% said it was jobs and the economy, 16% said the situation in Iraq, and 15% said the war on terrorism.
January 2009 - A January 2009 Quinnipiac
Quinnipiac University
Quinnipiac University is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational university located in Hamden, Connecticut, United States at the foot of Sleeping Giant State Park...
poll found that 35% of Florida voters supported only civil unions and an additional 27% supported full marriage rights. 31% believed that same-sex couples should not receive any form of recognition.
March 2011 - A March 2011 survey by Public Policy Polling
Public Policy Polling
Public Policy Polling is an American Democratic Party-affiliated polling firm based in Raleigh, North Carolina. PPP was founded in 2001 by businessman and Democratic pollster Dean Debnam, the firm's current president and chief executive officer...
found that 28% of Florida voters supported the legalization of same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
, while 31% supported civil unions, 37% were against all legal recognition of same-sex couples, and 4% were unsure.
June 2011 - A June 2011 survey by Public Policy Polling found that 37% of Florida voters supported the legalization of same-sex marriage, while 53% opposed it and 10% were not sure. A separate question on the same survey found that 67% of Florida voters supported legal recognition of same-sex couples, with 33% supporting same-sex marriage, 34% supporting civil unions but not marriage, 31% opposing all legal recognition, and 1% not sure.
| Which of the following best describes your opinion on gay marriage? | July 2011 | March 2011 | January 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gay couples should be allowed to legally marry | 33% | 28% | 27% |
| Gay couples should be allowed to form civil unions but not marry | 34% | 31% | 35% |
| There should be no legal recognition of a gay couple's relationship | 31% | 37% | 31% |
| Not sure | 1% | 4% | 7% |
See also
- LGBT rights in FloridaLGBT rights in FloridaLGBT people in the U.S. state of Florida face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents.- Law regarding same-sex sexual activity :...
- Civil union in the United StatesCivil union in the United StatesA civil union is a legally recognized union similar to marriage. Many people are critical of civil unions because they say they represent separate status unequal to marriage...
- Domestic partnership in the United States
- Florida Amendment 2Florida Amendment 2Florida Amendment 2 was an amendment made to the Constitution of Florida in 2008. It added Article I, Section 27 to the constitution, which defines marriage as a union only between one man and one woman, and thus bans the creation of similar unions, such as civil unions or same-sex...
- Same-sex marriage in the United StatesSame-sex marriage in the United StatesThe federal government does not recognize same-sex marriage in the United States, but such marriages are recognized by some individual states. The lack of federal recognition was codified in 1996 by the Defense of Marriage Act, before Massachusetts became the first state to grant marriage licenses...
- LGBT adoption
- We Are DadWe Are DadWe Are Dad is a 2005 documentary film chronicling the story of two male pediatric AIDS nurses who have taken in a number of HIV positive infants as their foster parents. The film outlines the couple's struggle to provide a stable and loving home to their children...
, a documentary film about same sex adoption in Florida