Legalizing Gay Marriage Would ‘Impose Significant Public Harm’ on Florida [UPDATED]

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi jogging in her undies.
She’s a cute little button-nosed blue-eyed blonde, but don’t be fooled by the packaging. Pam Bondi, Florida’s (or should I say Rick Scott’s) attorney general has asserted in court papers that recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states would “impose significant public harm.”

Bondi’s assertion is in response to eight gay couples who were married in other states, but whose unions are illegal in Florida, who have filed a discrimination suit in federal court. Florida’s legal leader suggests the judge toss the suit.

Bondi’s reasons for objecting to the suit:

Bondi’s office says the state has a legitimate interest in defining a marriage as between a man and woman because Florida’s voters adopted an amendment in 2008 that banned same-sex marriages.

The filing also says same-sex marriage recognition would create significant problems for the state’s pension and health insurance programs.

Equality Florida responded to reports of Bondi’s legal argument this way:

This response is deplorable. The only Florida families suffering harm are the LGBT families who continue to be discriminated against. Pam Bondi is on the wrong side of history and on the wrong side of Florida public opinion, which shows 57% of Floridians now favor marriage equality. Judges appointed by Republicans and Democrats alike have 19 times in a row come to the inescapable conclusion that such bans are wrong and constitutionally indefensible. Attorneys General in states across the country have upheld their duty to the U.S. constitution by refusing to defend a law that so clearly violates basic rights.

The SAVE organization also spoke out against Bondi’s assertion:

“As the voice of South Florida’s LGBT community, we at SAVE know this issue affects many loving, committed same-sex couples married elsewhere but currently living in Florida,” explained SAVE Executive Director Tony Lima. “Attorney General Bondi should know that what truly causes public harm is discriminatory rhetoric that divides Floridians instead of uniting them. It’s our responsibility to hold the Attorney General accountable this November for her stance against equality and frankly against the voters of Florida.”

Florida’s Amendment 2 passed on 2008 by 62 percent to 38 percent. It was supported by then-governor Charlie Crist and a bunch of churches. It was opposed by every newspaper in Florida.

Supporters offered three main arguments: the amendment would protect children by ensuring that only marriage between a man and a woman would ever be recognized in Florida; the Florida statute that already provided for a single form of marriage was vulnerable to being overturned by a court on constitutional grounds (because it’s well, unconstitutional), whereas an amendment would be almost impossible to overturn; and finally, if the amendment failed, school children could be indoctrinated in the gay lifestyle.

UPDATE: Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi abruptly cancelled a speech in Sarasota on Tuesday amid a growing backlash over her office’s legal fight against a same-sex marriage lawsuit, according to HT Politics.

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2 thoughts on “Legalizing Gay Marriage Would ‘Impose Significant Public Harm’ on Florida [UPDATED]”

  1. Marriage is only between 1 man and 1 woman should be the only legal wedded unions allowed in the United States … Any GAYS and LESBIANS that wish to go against the bible should do so in another country and made to give up their American status of citizenship…. NO EXCEPTIONS ! ! !

    1. Fine, Russell Howard, as long as adulterers must go too. Adultery is forbidden in the Ten Commandments, so is a much worse sin than being gay. No exceptions! (Starting with Donald Trump.)

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