Boca Raton, FL – A Florida Atlantic University student is suing the school because it will not recognize his marriage to another man, according to a report from WPTV.
When Gildas Dousset asked for in-state tuition rates, the university failed to recognize his marriage to partner Paul Rubio, a Florida resident.
Rubio, a travel journalist, met Dousset while he was in Paris in 2008, reports the Sun-Sentinel. The couple had a whirlwind romance and eventually married in Massachusetts in 2013.
Though the two married last year in Massachusetts, the state of Florida does not recognize their marriage. In Dousset’s suit, he claims that the school’s policy violates the U.S. Constitution.
“It hurt,” Dousset told WPTV. “It was insulting. It was highly discriminative. I couldn’t believe it. I showed up at the registrar’s office that day feeling very confident that it wouldn’t be any issue.”
The lawsuit, filed May 14 in Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach, asks that the state recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states, where it is legal.
While they originally said that the university does not comment on any pending litigations, FAU released a statement claiming that they are obligated to follow Florida laws, including the ban on same-sex marriage.
“Florida Atlantic University, and every Florida state college and university, is bound to follow all the laws of the State of Florida unless they are deemed unconstitutional by the court,” the statement reads, according to a report from WPTV. “It is our understanding that this law is being challenged in courts throughout the state, and there is no allegation that FAU misapplied the law or did anything other than what is specifically required by the laws of the state.”
George Castrataro and his law partner, Lisa Conrey, will be representing the couple in court. Dousset told the Sun Sentinel that he plans to return to FAU once the suit is settled.
“I really liked the school, and the teachers,” he told the Sun-Sentinel. “I have a French mindset. I don’t stand for discrimination. I was raised under the principle that all people are equal and that we all have the same rights.”
