TALLAHASEE, Fla., March 13 (UPI) -- Eight same-sex couples, married in other states, sued Florida to demand the state recognize the unions, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida said.
The suit, filed Wednesday in Tallahassee by the ACLU of Florida and the ACLU, challenges "Florida's refusal to recognize" the marriages, the Miami Herald reported Thursday.
At a news conference Thursday, which included the plaintiffs, Howard Simon of SAVE, a Florida lesbian-gay-bisexual-transsexual-rights group, noted the Supreme Court decision to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act "means that many loving and committed Floridians have marriages recognized by the federal government. Sadly, Florida refuses to recognize those marriages."
The state has never granted marriage rights to same-sex couples. In 2008 the state constitution was amended, by 62 percent of voters, to ban same-sex marriage, domestic partnerships and recognition of same-sex marriages performed elsewhere.
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