Yesterday, a state appeals court rejected Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi's request that state courts stop considering same-sex marriage cases until the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether states have the right to ban gay marriage.
The Miami Herald reports:
“Upon consideration, appellant’s motions to stay briefing are denied,” the Miami-based Third District Court of Appeal said in a terse ruling Thursday.
“That is the best news of the day. We would have been sitting in limbo for an undetermined amount of time,” said attorney Bernadette Restivo, who represents Aaron Huntsman and William Lee Jones, two Key West bartenders who on July 17 won the right to marry in Monroe County Circuit Court. “Pam Bondi’s stay would have caused enormous irreparable harm to the plaintiffs and others similarly situated. Every day that we move forward in this case will hopefully mean we are moving closer to ending this oppressive discrimination.”
Said Bondi’s spokeswoman Jennifer Meale: “The Court has ruled that the case will move forward, and we will proceed accordingly.”
Following last week's federal court ruling overturning Florida's gay marriage ban, Bondi vowed to continue defending the ban in court, saying "I am just getting started"
