Yesterday U.S. Federal Court Judge Robert L. Hinkle stated that his preliminary injunction in Brenner v. Scott has statewide effect, meaning all Florida clerks may issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples beginning Tuesday. See also: Judge Rules: Gay Marriage Can Proceed in Florida Tuesday (But His Decision Is Being Appealed)…
U.S. Federal Court Judge Robert Hinkle today made it clear that all clerks of court in Florida should begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on Tuesday. This announcement was a clarification in the case of Brenner v. Scott. See also: The Couple Whose Case Brought Gay Marriage to Florida…
Marriage equality is poised to come to Florida next week, assuming that federal judge Robert Hinkle does as expected and declares that his injunction has statewide effect. Even if that happens, though, there’s still a chance that an appeals court could reverse his decision. So hundreds of Southern religious leaders…
The Sunshine State’s largest employer, Publix Super Markets, will expand its spousal benefits to include married same-sex couples beginning on January 1, 2015– just days before the lifting of a federal stay is expected to bring marriage equality to Florida. According to Equality Florida, one of the state’s leading LGBT…
On the outskirts of Orlando lies the small town of Mount Dora. Often referred to as the New England of the South and famous for its October bike festival and macabre ghost tours, it is also now the scene where a quirky piece of history has allegedly just taken place…
Jazz Jennings has the mind of a girl but the body of boy. So reads the back cover of her 32-page autobiographical book, I Am Jazz. The book, which was released in September, chronicles Jennings’ struggles as a transgender child, opens up the dialogue on gender identity, and has helped…
On Monday night, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi filed a motion to the Third District Court of Appeal that the consolidated Pareto-Huntsman case, which deals with the topic of same-sex marriage, should be given a pass-through — meaning it would skip the appeals court and go straight to the Florida…
In response to the divisive topic of same-sex marriage, Broward College will host a Religious Liberty and Marriage Equality forum on its South Campus on Monday, October 13. The forum is part of the college’s Humanities Initiative, which is designed to help students and community members learn how public policy…
In August, U.S. District Court Judge Robert Hinkle ruled on Grimsley and Albu v. Scott that Florida’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples was unconstitutional and, despite a stay on his ruling, ordered the State of Florida to issue a new death certificate for Carol Goldwasser, naming Arlene Goldberg, her…
Yesterday, the nine justices of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) declined to hear any of the federal cases pending before them regarding state bans on same-sex marriage. By not taking up the cases, SCOTUS allows the lower district court decisions to stand, meaning same-sex couples in Utah,…
Last week, the Board of Directors for the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce voted to approve a resolution in support of marriage equality. The chamber, the largest organization of companies in Broward County, with more than 1,400 member businesses, has chosen to support same-sex marriage as a way to…
In 2002, Heather Brassner, a Palm Beach County art dealer, and her then-partner, Megan Lade, were joined together in a civil union in Vermont. Though they were initially committed to each other, the relationship fell apart about four years ago, when Lade allegedly cheated on Brassner and ran off with…
On Friday, the Florida Supreme Court (FSC) declined to hear the so-called Shaw case, regarding a Hillsborough County lesbian couple who are seeking a divorce. The FSC explained that the Second District Court of Appeal must first rule on the case before directing it to the FSC…
According to Equality Florida, one of the state’s leading LGBT rights organizations, same-sex marriages could begin in Florida as early as September 22, if by September 21 no one appeals last week’s ruling in a federal case made by U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle. On August 21, Hinkle ruled that…
In what has been a hot summer in the fight for marriage equality in the Sunshine State, the Second District Court of Appeal today asked the Florida Supreme Court (FSC) to decide whether the state’s 2008 ban on same-sex marriage is Constitutional. A clerk at the office of the Florida…
Police arrested seven student activists yesterday afternoon at the Broward Transitional Center (BTC), after they blocked the entrance of the detention center. The seven were part of a demonstration of about 70 people who are urging President Obama to help alleviate the fears of many undocumented people who fear deportation…
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi wants the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) to decide whether the Fourteenth Amendment requires states to sanction same-sex marriage. If her motion is successful, then the South Florida couples who are challenging the state’s ban would not be heard in the Third District…
On Tuesday, Palm Beach County Circuit Court Judge Diana Lewis ruled against Florida’s ban on same-sex marriage by recognizing the Delaware marriage of W. Jason Simpson and husband Frank Bangor, who died earlier this year. See also: Broward County Judge Rules for Same Sex Marriage in Florida…
Lester Leroy Williams is serving ten years in prison for sexually battering a child. Back in 2008, he was also sentenced to 4.5 years of probation. Recently, the 35-year-old Williams made a bizarre request: He wants the state to physically castrate him. In a letter Williams wrote at the Union…
Since both their lawsuits challenge the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, the six couples and the Equality Florida Institute in the Pareto v. Ruvin lawsuit in Miami-Dade are hoping to join forces with the couple in Monroe County, Aaron Huntsman and William “Lee” Jones, in their continued fight to bring…
