Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi (R) is asking a federal judge to throw out a lawsuit against the state of Florida on behalf of eight same-sex couples seeking recognition of their out-of-state marriages – with Bondi writing in court documents that recognizing the marriages would “impose significant public harm.”
The AP reports:
Bondi's office also argues that the state has a legitimate interest in defining marriage as between a man and woman. Florida first banned same-sex marriages nearly two decades ago and voters reinforced that ban when they passed a constitutional amendment in 2008.
"Florida's marriage laws, then, have a close, direct, and rational relationship to society's legitimate interest in increasing the likelihood that children will be born to and raised by the mothers and fathers who produced them in stable and enduring family units," Bondi's office said in court documents.
The state's legal position also notes that there would be significant financial and logistical problems for the state's pension and health insurance programs if same-sex marriages were recognized.
