By Daniel Hicks

Hundreds gathered outside on the steps of city hall in downtown Orlando Jan. 6 to witness Mayor Buddy Dyer tie the knot for more than 80 men and women on this first day of marriage equality in Florida.

Brides and grooms were properly dressed for the occasion in white gowns and black tuxedos with entire generations of family in tow. There was music, flowers and refreshments. The sun was out, the temperature was warm and everything about the setting was appropriate for a wedding ceremony and reception for sweethearts, some of whom waited more than four decades to say “I do.”

Love in the air. Smiles everywhere. Diversity personified. A municipal government that had been denying its citizens their basic human right opened its secular arms to social evolution and progress.

Impressive.

Hundreds of miles south and just beyond Palm Beach County, however, a similiar mass ceremony earlier that morning could have been handled better, apparently.

Broward County, whose commissioners proclaimed this Tuesday in January to be “Marriage Equality Day,” reportedly treated its couples more like inmates in prison rather than committed partners. While participants retained their dignity throughout the momentous affair, some observed that a county boasting the most same-sex couples per capita in the country woefully failed to offer a newlywed ritual fit for such a historical event.

Not to detract from those who were first and made the best of it, attendees were treated like numbers. Light refreshments were provided — but with an emphasis on light. No pomp. No circumstance. No throwing of rice. No supportive mayor of Fort Lauderdale, only a dull county clerk at the courthouse. Pictures being shared on social media appear to back this up.

And despite the early morning call, one would think that a party closer to what Orlando organized was possible given the extremely significant gay and lesbian population of greater Fort Lauderdale.

Shameful.

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