WATCH at the Moment Judge Lifts Stay on Gay Marriage in Miami-Dade County

In Florida: Gay marriage stay lifted in Miami-Dade County

So much drama in Florida over gay marriage.

Finally, the judge lifts the stay in Miami-Dade County.

Here's more

Miami-Dade County will become the first place in Florida to allow same-sex couples to marry on Monday, 13 hours before a gay-marriage ban that has been ruled unconstitutional is lifted in the rest of the state.

In an 11 a.m. hearing, Circuit Judge Sarah Zabel lifted the legal stay she had placed on her sweeping July decision declaring the ban discriminatory. Clerk of Courts Harvey Ruvin has said he will allow same-sex marriages to begin immediately.

Elsewhere in Florida, most court clerks will start marrying gay couples Tuesday — some of them at 12:01 a.m. — following a federal judge's order. Several counties in conservative North Florida have stopped marrying people altogether, in part to avoid marrying same-sex couples.

U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle of Tallahassee declared the state ban unconstitutional in August, but stayed his decision through Monday to let legal appeals run their course. Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, a Republican, sought extensions of the stay from the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court, but both turned her down.

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Miami-Dade County passes Anti-Discrimination ordinance

Cool news!

Last night, the Miami-Dade County board of commissioners voted 8-3 to pass an ordinance to prohibit discrimination against person’s gender identity in housing, employment, and public accommodations.

Buzzfeed reports:

Critics came in droves, packing seats at Miami-Dade County Hall and waiting for hours to testify against the ordinance. More than 130 signed up to speak. Pastors, parents, teens, and seniors expressed particular concern that the measure would grant sexual predators a carte blanche to prowl women’s bathrooms. 

“There are cases of the deviants who will take advantage of this,” said Commissioner Esteban Bovo, who represents suburban Miami. He would only support the ordinance if it carved out an exception so it did not apply to transgender people using public bathrooms. “We have to be mindful of a segment of the population, who is probably a majority, who is very concerned with this issue,” he said. “It is a concern for the safety of their family.” 

But in the end, a majority of the commission rejected a bathroom amendment and sided with supporters of the ordinance, who characterized the measure as a basic civil right.
“It’s a scare tactic when we come down to the bathrooms and locker rooms,” said Commissioner Audrey Edmonson, one of the ordinance’s primary co-sponsors. “These are scare tactics.” She also rebutted a common complaint that the ordinance was unnecessary. “When someone has been discriminated against, I don’t care if it is one person, we were elected to defend those people and provide the protection that they need.” 

The ordinance adds transgender people to several protected classes under local law, which includes people of color, people of faith, and homosexuals. The ordinance says religious institutions do not need to accommodate protected classes in noncommercial religious facilities. 

Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez intends to sign the ordinance, mayoral spokesperson Mike Hernández told BuzzFeed News. “He is 100% supportive. The mayor will not veto — it will become law.”