Tampa, FL – A Hillsborough Circuit Court judge has refused to grant a divorce to two Tampa women that were married in a state that allows same-sex marriage.

“There is no valid marriage to be dissolved under the laws of Florida,” Circuit Judge M. Lee wrote in a statement released last Friday. “The Court is without jurisdiction to dissolve that which does not exist.”

Lawyers for the women say they are going to take the case to the Second District Court of Appeal. The attorneys are hopeful that the two Tampa women, Mariama Changamire Shaw and Keiba Lynn Shaw, will eventually be able to divorce.

“We’re pretty confident that the parties will be able to get a divorce through the Second District Court of Appeal or the Florida Supreme Court,” said Adam Cordover, an attorney for Keiba Lynn Shaw, reported by The Tampa Tribune. “I’m very hopeful. The trend in the various court systems is in favor of marriage equality.”

The couple married in Massachusetts in 2010, before moving to Tampa in 2011. Both women have agreed to terms of a divorce and want a judge to enforce their divorce rather than have it slip through the cracks.

“The state of Florida wants them to be perpetually married,” said Changamire Shaw’s attorney, as reported by the Tribune.