YULEE, Fla. — With gay marriage now legal in Florida, same-sex couples from around the Deep South crossed the border Tuesday as the Sunshine State became a prime regional destination for gay and lesbian weddings still banned back home.
Out-of-state couples lined up outside county courthouses early Tuesday in northern Florida counties. Some drove hours for licenses at the first opportunity.
“As soon as we heard about the ruling we pretty much decided on a whim to come yesterday,” said Scott Singletary, 22. “We wanted to make sure to do it as soon as possible, in case (the law) changed.”
On that point, Florida’s gay and lesbian weddings seem more secure than the first same-sex nuptials held years ago in other states.
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a request by Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to maintain the state’s marriage ban until a final resolution. After she was sworn in to a second term on Tuesday, Bondi said her top attorneys are reviewing whether to continue the state’s appeal.
Walt Disney World and other top Florida destinations have offered commitment ceremony packages for years, but wedding planners, and hotels and resorts are sensing a new tourism boom with more couples wanting weddings.
“I’ve been fielding a ton of calls from out of state,” said Rachel McMurray, a licensed wedding officiant who married a lesbian couple on Jacksonville’s courthouse steps Tuesday. “Even if their state doesn’t recognize the marriage, it gives them a sense of legitimacy.”
County tourism boards have already changed their advertising: “Finally we all do” reads Broward’s tourism home page, over a picture of a gay couple in wedding attire on the beach.
From South Carolina up the East Coast, court rulings and legislatures have gradually opened the door to same-sex weddings.
Not so in the rest of the South: Gays and lesbians are still denied marriage rights in a swath of states from Texas to Georgia as well as Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee.
David Downing, interim executive director of Visit St. Pete Clearwater, said, “This is a great destination for weddings. … We welcome everybody.”
The same cannot be said about everyone in Florida. Officials in Jacksonville’s Duval County, Panhandle County and a handful of others said they will issue marriage licenses as required by law, but will no longer provide courthouse marriage ceremonies, to avoid making some heterosexuals uncomfortable.
That didn’t keep Cassie Rogers, 41, and Jennifer Royael, 38, from a Jacksonville courthouse wedding.
With bubbles floating and crowds gawking, the Clearwater, Fla., couple beamed with tear-stained cheeks as McMurray pronounced them “wife and wife.”
