News National/International

Same-Sex Weddings Begin In Florida After Judge Clears The Way

By The Associated Press
 

Gay marriages are OK in Florida as of midnight -- but a judge has given same-sex couples in Miami-Dade County a head start.

The judge Monday said she saw no reason why gay couples couldn't immediately get their licenses. And she then went ahead and performed some of those ceremonies herself.
 
The courtroom erupted in cheers when the judge cleared the way for the licenses to two women and to two men. Judge Sarah Zabel presided over the weddings in a dual ceremony.
 
Other same-sex marriages are expected to happen around the state after midnight. That's when a federal judge's order covering all 67 of Florida's counties is set to take effect.

Large-scale ceremonies in Orlando, Tampa, Key West and Broward County are planned for tomorrow.

But signs of opposition are evident in northern parts of the state, which are more conservative. In Jacksonville, a judge shut down the courthouse chapel, saying no marriage ceremonies -- either gay or straight -- would be allowed there. At least two other counties in northeast Florida did the same.
 
Florida is the state where former beauty pageant queen Anita Bryant began her national campaign against gay rights in the 1970s.