MIAMI, Fla. — The 3rd District Court of Appeals last week denied a same-sex couple the right to divorce.
Sarah Oliver and Heather Stufflebeam were married in Iowa. The court in its ruling noted that Florida does not currently recognize same-sex marriage and therefore a lower court’s decision to deny the couple’s divorce was correct. The couple was not challenging Florida’s ban on same-sex marriage in their petition.
Unfortunately for the two women plantiffs, they did not bring their appeal to Broward County. It was there in the circuit court of Judge Dale Cohen that the first same-sex divorce in Florida was granted two weeks ago. Judge Cohen recently declared that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional.
While same-sex marriages are expected to start in Florida on Jan. 6, it remains unclear how many state county clerks would actually begin issuing marriage licenses on that date, and whether there will be any additional legal challenges from Pam Bondi, Florida’s attorney general, remain to be seen.
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