Same-sex marriage has been legal in Florida since January 6, 2015, as a result of a series of court decisions that the state's same-sex marriage ban violated the U.S. Constitution. On August 21, 2014, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida ruled in Brenner v. Scott that the same-sex marriage ban was unconstitutional. The order was stayed temporarily. State attempts at extending the stay failed, with the U.S. Supreme Court denying further extension on December 19, 2014. In addition, a state court ruling in Pareto v. Ruvin allowed same-sex couples to obtain marriage licenses in Miami-Dade County on the afternoon of January 5, 2015. In another state case challenging the denial of marriage rights to same-sex couples, a Monroe County court in Huntsman v. Heavilin stayed enforcement of its decision pending appeal, and the stay expired on January 6, 2015. Florida was the 35th U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage. Polling suggests that a majority of Florida residents support the legal recognition of same-sex marriage, with a 2024 Public Religion Research Institute poll showing that 64% of respondents supported same-sex marriage.
Previously, Florida had banned same-sex marriage both by statute since 1977 and in its State Constitution since 2008. Voters approved a constitutional amendment that banned both same-sex marriage and civil unions in 2008. In addition, the state added a prohibition on the recognition of marriages from other jurisdictions in 1997. The state also imposed criminal penalties on any county clerk who issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples. These laws, while unenforceable, remain on the books.
Legal restrictions Statutes In 1977, following the success of the Save Our Children campaign in overturning an LGBT rights ordinance in Miami, the Florida Legislature enacted legislation banning same-sex marriage and adoption by gays and lesbians. Senator Curtis Peterson, a sponsor of the legislation, said it was designed to say "we are tired of you and wish you would go back in the closet." In 1997, the Florida Legislature overwhelmingly adopted its own Defense of Marriage Act, which stated marriage was the "union between one man and one woman" and barred the state from recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states. Governor Lawton Chiles said: "I believe that, by and large, most Floridians are tolerant and will one day come to view a broader range of domestic partnerships as an acceptable part of life. But, that is not the case today." The bill became law without his signature.Michael J. Kamotz, "For Better or For Worse: A Critical Analysis of Florida's Defense of Marriage Act," Florida State University Law Review, III. C., Vol. 25, No. 2 (Winter 1998). Retrieved February 3, 2014 According to a legal opinion provided to the Florida Court Clerks' Association in December 2014 in anticipation of an injunction in the case of Brenner v. Scott, a clerk who issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples would face criminal penalties, a legal provision it called "apparently unique" to Florida. Penalties could include fines as high as $1,000 and up to a year in prison.
In August 2017, Senator Gary Farmer filed a bill to repeal the state's statutory ban on same-sex marriage,New Legislation Would Officially Abolish Florida's Outdated Gay Marriage Ban with a similar bill also introduced to the House by Representative David Richardson in November 2017. Similar measures were also introduced by Senator Tina Polsky in December 2022 and January 2025, and Senator Fabián Basabe in October 2023. However, all these bills died in committee. Another bill was introduced in December 2025 by Representative Fentrice Driskell.
Constitutional amendment
On November 4, 2008, 62% of voters approved Amendment 2, a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and civil unions. A 60% approval rate was required to adopt the amendment. Monroe County was the only county to oppose the amendment.
Get Engaged and Equal Marriage Florida, two organizations dedicated to overturning the constitutional amendment in the 2014 elections, were formed in 2013. However, no measure was placed on the 2014 ballot to repeal the same-sex marriage ban. In October 2023, Senator Basabe filed a constitutional amendment to repeal the ban. The measure would have required approval by voters in a referendum scheduled for November 2024, but it died without a hearing in a Senate subcommittee in February 2024.
Lawsuits
Several lawsuits for same-sex marriage rights were filed in federal and state courts in 2014 in the aftermath of the United States v. Windsor decision. Two courts ordered state officials to recognize a specific marriage established outside of Florida, a federal court in Brenner v. Scott, and a state court in Estate of Bangor.
Federal lawsuits Wilson v. Ake In January 2005, Judge James S. Moody Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida upheld the state's same-sex marriage ban and ruled against a same-sex couple who sought to have their Massachusetts marriage recognized in Florida.
Brenner v. Scott
On February 28, 2014, civil rights attorneys filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida on behalf of a Florida same-sex couple who had married in Canada. The case, Brenner v. Scott, was assigned to Judge Robert Lewis Hinkle. On March 13, 2014, attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a similar suit, Grimsley v. Scott, in the same court on behalf of South Florida LGBT advocacy group SAVE Dade and eight same-sex couples already married in other states, asking the court to order Florida to recognize their marriages. It named Governor Rick Scott and three other state officials as defendants. Judge Hinkle consolidated Brenner and Grimsley on April 21. On August 21, he ruled that Florida's statutory and constitutional bans on same-sex marriage were unconstitutional. He wrote:
He issued a stay pending appeal. He also granted immediate relief by ordering the state to recognize the marriage in New York in 2011 of the late Carol Goldwasser and plaintiff Arlene Goldberg and to revise the former's death certificate to reflect that marriage. The state defendants appealed to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals and the case was retitled Brenner v. Armstrong. On December 3, the Eleventh Circuit denied a request to extend the stay from Hinkle's earlier ruling, and the U.S. Supreme Court on December 19 rejected Florida's request, with only Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissenting. On January 1, 2015, Judge Hinkle clarified his order after one defendant, the county clerk of Washington County, inquired whether he was ordering her to issue more than the one marriage license specified in his preliminary injunction. Hinkle explained that his order applied only to the specific circumstances presented by the plaintiffs seeking relief, but that all Florida clerks should understand from his ruling that the U.S. Constitution required them to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. He warned that he was prepared to add additional plaintiffs and defendants to the lawsuit and that the costs would be borne by the defendants. Hinkle's stay expired on January 6, 2015, legalizing same-sex marriage in Florida.
More than a year after same-sex marriage began in Florida, Judge Hinkle issued a ruling that declared Florida's voter-approved amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage unconstitutional. On March 31, 2016, Hinkle issued a final injunction in the Brenner case, affirming the unconstitutionality of the now-defunct constitutional and statutory bans on same-sex marriage and clarifying the state government's requirement to treat same-sex couples equally in all aspects of Florida law. Judge Hinkle rejected the state's argument that summary judgment would be moot on the basis that the state government had shown little, if any, inclination to accept and follow the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which was decided on June 26, 2015.
State lawsuits
Early lawsuits Between 1993 and 2004, several same-sex couples filed suit in state courts seeking the right to marry. In June 1993, Shawna Underwood and Donia Davis, a lesbian couple from Orange County challenged Florida's statutory same-sex marriage ban in Underwood v. Florida. The lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed after extensive discussions with LGBT rights legal experts who suggested that Baehr v. Miike, a same-sex marriage case from Hawaii, would be a better first test on this issue. In 2001, the Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal ruled in Frandsen v. County of Brevard that the denial of marriage licenses to same-sex couples did not violate the State Constitution's equal protection for gender classifications.Frandsen v. County of Brevard The San Francisco 2004 same-sex weddings prompted a flurry of similar attempts at same-sex marriage in Florida. On February 25, attorney Ellis Rubin filed suit in Broward County on behalf of 170 gays and lesbians who sought the right to marry. The suit, brought against Broward County Clerk Howard Forman was, according to the NBC News, "believed to be the first formal legal challenge to the state law specifying that marriage licenses be issued only to parties consisting of one male and one female." The suit was Ash v. Forman. Broward Circuit Judge Richard Eade rejected a bid by Liberty Counsel to intervene in support of the ban. The city of Key West passed a symbolic resolution in support of same-sex marriage in March 2004.Key West supports gay marriages On March 18, the Mayor of Tampa, Pam Iorio, signed an order, effective the following year, extending health care benefits to the domestic partners of city employees. Other cases were filed throughout the state: Clayton v. Ake in Hillsborough County, Merritt v. Gardner in Orange County, Berman v. Wilkin in Palm Beach County, and Kelley v. Green in Lee County. Liberty Counsel led counter suits against the couples in "a move designed to intimidate anyone suing for legal marriage", but they were later dropped. All the same-sex marriage cases were dismissed. A last case, Higgs v. Kolhage, brought in Monroe County, was dismissed in February 2006.
In March 1997, a three-judge panel of the Fifth District Court of Appeal affirmed a decision by Circuit Judge Edward M. Jackson in Posik v. Layton recognizing as enforceable a "nuptial-type agreement" between two women from Brevard County. The court pointed out that "[e]ven though the state has prohibited same-sex marriages and same-sex adoptions, it has not prohibited this type of agreement". The court ruled that the support agreement, which detailed that Layton would pay liquidated damages in the amount of $2,500 a month if the couple separated, was legally valid.
Pareto v. Ruvin