The Clerk of the Court in Duval County is named Ronnie Fussell. A nice enough guy most say, reflected in his website that features pictures of his wife Rebecca, son Chandler and Herschel his chocolate lab.
Ronnie is proud of the job he does. As he puts it: “As Clerk, I will endeavor to make every customer feel respected and well served in his or her interactions with this office. It’s my goal to improve our public service work environment, which will allow us as employees to better serve the citizens of Duval County.”
Last week, Ronnie decided that the best way to make customers in Duval County feel “respected and well served” was by refusing to perform weddings in the courthouse. It seems Ronnie was uncomfortable with the way some recent legal rulings had disrupted his “public service work environment.” Namely, the ruling by U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle making gay marriage legal across the state.
Suddenly, Ronnie Fussell found himself disturbed. The recent court ruling went against his religious faith that he practices as an active member of the Westside Baptist Church run by Senior Pastor Keith Russell,
Westside subscribes to the doctrine of the Southern Baptist Convention that speaks of “God’s plan for marriage and sexual intimacy – one man, and one woman, for life.” Moreover, the Baptist Convention feels that “homosexuality is not a ‘valid alternative lifestyle.’” So too Brother Keith, and his follower, Ronnie Fussell.
Ronnie and his staff was uncomfortable doing same-sex weddings and decided after a “series of meetings” that their only choice was to end all courthouse weddings.
“It was decided as a team, as an office, this would be what we do so that there wouldn’t be any discrimination,” Fussell said. “The easiest way is to not do them at all.
“I believe marriage is between a man and a woman,” he said. “Personally it would go against my beliefs to perform a ceremony that is other than that.”
So for the sake of his emotional “comfort,” and to stop “discrimination,” he has chosen to discriminate against not only same-sex couples eager to take that long-awaited plunge into matrimony, but all straight couples who had hoped to save the money that traditional wedding ventures cost as well.
Fussell is not alone. Currently clerks in 27 counties across northern Florida, our state’s Bible belt, have joined the rush to follow suit.
“The majority of my staff have a lot of Christian beliefs and I can’t force them to marry people,” said Stacie Harvey, clerk of court in Baker County, which stopped performing marriage ceremonies on Jan. 1.
“I do not want to have members of our team put in a situation which presents a conflict between their personal religious beliefs and the implementation of a contentious societal philosophy change,” said Okaloosa County Clerk JD Peacock II in a memo to his staff, ending courthouse marriages effective Jan. 1.
In Santa Rosa County, the excuse for ending courthouse weddings was “cost-cutting.”
Pasco County Clerk Paula O’Neil said cancelling all wedding ceremonies was “an easy decision to make.” She cited the extra workload that her office faced as well as the reality that many of her staff would be “uncomfortable” officiating same-sex weddings.
The unofficial list of Florida counties that have changed their courthouse marriage policies include, Holmes, Washington, Jackson, Calhoun, Liberty, Franklin, Clay, and Wakulla, in addition to Duval, Baker, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, and Pasco counties.
Equality Florida co-founder and chief executive Nadine Smith is understandably furious.
“I think it would be outrageous for clerks to change the rules simply because gay couples are getting married,” she told the Tampa Bay Times. Yet, of course, that is exactly what is happening. And in its wake, it is affecting heterosexual couples as well.
Unfortunately, in the “land of the free, home of the brave,” such maneuvers are not that uncommon. Think back to the year when the organization known as Catholic Charities decided to end all of its efforts at aiding adoptions rather than be forced by state laws into arranging for adoptions to gay couples.
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin stopped providing all benefits to National Guard troupes in her state rather than be forced to give equal benefits to gay couples that had already been in place for heterosexual ones.
And so too with Florida’s county clerks. It is a repulsive act by a desperate set of folks that are on the losing side of history. Imagine the public uproar if police in any of those counties would refuse to stop a bank robbery because the bank was owned by a Jew and offering protection would make the “uncomfortable” for religious beliefs. Or the firefighters who wouldn’t put out a blaze in a convenience store owned by a black because of their increased “workload.”
In the end, Florida’s gays and lesbians will get their marriage licenses and end up having their weddings officiated in another venue, so the foal is slight and the penalties small.
Yet the moral message is abundantly clear. The state of Florida which just happens to be the top gay destination in America is still a brewing pot for bigotry and hate against the very citizens that would bring billions of dollars of revenue and income into what is otherwise a tropical paradise.
Compassion and love are virtues that need to be embraced by all. The LGBT community in Florida will survive this insult just as it has many others. Moreover, it is our job to lead with outstretched hands and show the world what true commitment is all about. Once again, it is up to us to have the last laugh by living happily ever after with the loves of our lives. It is our way and our combined strength. ….Until next week…
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