The Florida Five Hundred: Rights and Privileges Denied by the Marriage Ban in Florida By Cassondra Fredriksen1 As marriage equality spreads throughout the United States, more and more states are acting to ensure all same-sex couples are afforded the opportunity to marry with dignity. As the United States Supreme Court announced in the landmark Loving v. Virginia case, “[t]he freedom to marry is recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men.”2 It has been well documented and discussed that there are over one thousand one hundred federal rights that pertain to marriage.3 This statistic was even cited by the Supreme Court in its recent United States v. Windsor decision, the decision, in which the Court struck down the federal law that restricted marriage to oppositesex couples.4 Currently, the Florida Constitution prevents same-sex couples from getting married in the state and does not recognize such marriages performed in other states. This Article presents empirical research showing that there are over five hundred Florida state statutes that contain rights and privileges that pertain to marriage. Therefore, same-sex couples living in Florida are deprived not only of the right to get married, but also the vast array of federal and state benefits that pertain to marital status. This Article attempts to catalogue those Florida statutes that pertain to marriage and the vital personal rights that stem from marriage, including rights related to health, finance, business, property, familial recognition, and more. This Article was inspired by the 2004 U.S. GAO Defense of Marriage Act report critical to the Supreme Court’s considerations in overturning DOMA, which identified the one thousand thirty-eight federal statutes that confer benefits on the basis of martial status. While both the GAO report and this Article underestimate the discriminatory impact of the same-sex marriage ban, the staggering number of laws implicated in Florida, five hundred eight, only underscores the potential of this undocumented impact. The factual evidence of marriage inequality is written into statutes, and is undoubtedly manifest in countless ways throughout the State, and by extension, other state administrative regulations and agencies. Ultimately, the conclusion cannot be denied: A minority group of gay men and women who would be married in Florida, are categorically denied all of the rights and privileges that a majority group of heterosexual men and women are allowed through marriage. This amounts to nothing more than a blatant abuse of a majority’s power used to limit a minority’s rights. Through empirical research we have found that five hundred eight Florida statutes turn on marriage and the related definition of spouse. The breadth and reach of these statutes illustrates, in addition to the social stigma attached to being gay, that the exclusion of same-sex marriage in Florida has onerous discriminatory effects that creep into nearly every aspect of same-sex couples’ lives. At the end of this Article you will find mini summaries of the Florida statutes that relate to marriage, and a complete list of statutes at the end. Florida currently has a statute to deny legal recognition of same-sex marriage (here Florida DOMA) and the purpose is similar to the unconstitutional federal DOMA law, denying recognition in Florida of same-sex marriages recognized in any other jurisdiction:
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J.D., expected Dec. 2014; the author wishes to thank Crystal Beard, Elizabeth Chantel Greene, Bradley Muhs, and Jacqueline Prats who helped compile the empirical research. Bradly and Jaqueline thank you for your thoughtful critiques and edits. A special thank you to Professor Joseph Morrissey, for his contributions to the article, as well as for being inspirational and a mentor throughout. 2 Loving v. Va., 388 U.S. 1, 12 (1967). 3 Marriage Equality USA, 1,138 Federal Rights, http://www.marriageequality.org/1-138-federal-rights (accessed Jan. 27, 2014). 4 U.S. v. Windsor, 133 S. Ct. 2675, 2688 (2013).
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