LIVE VIDEO: Winning Monroe County (Key West) Plaintiffs Aaron & Lee Get Married

Key West bartenders Aaron Huntsman and William "Lee" Jones, the winning plaintiffs in Monroe County's marriage suit, will be getting married at midnight when the stay issued by federal Judge Robert Hinkle expires statewide. Earlier today Circuit Judge Luis Garcia lifted the stay on his Monroe County ruling, also effective at midnight. Watch the festivities live below. Other Key West couples may be getting married on camera shortly after Aaron and Lee.

UPDATE: And Aaron & Lee are legally married after twelve years of love in Key West. Congratulations, guys! The live stream has concluded and I'll post a clip of the ceremony here when it becomes available.

UPDATE II: Here's a clip of the wedding.

Key West Bartenders Celebrate!

Key West Winners

William Jones (left) and Aaron Huntsman are the Key West bartenders whose marriage equality lawsuit against Monroe County was the first of five wins in Florida, earning them grand marshal titles in this year's Fantasy Fest Parade, the first "political" selection in the event's history. Jones and Huntsman dropped in at the Island House this afternoon for an interview with me and South Florida Gay News writer Tony Adams. Look for Tony's interview online and in print on Wednesday. My piece will appear in the 2015 issue of Pride Magazine, by which time we'll hopefully have a final resolution on Florida marriage - if not the entire national shebang.

FLORIDA: AG Pam Bondi Tells State Appeals Court To Hold Off Until SCOTUS Rules On Same-Same Marriage

Filing separate motions in both the Monroe County and Miami-Dade County cases, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has asked a state appeals court to continue those counties' stays on marriage ban overturn rulings until the US Supreme Court rules on one of the cases already presented to it.

"Neither this Court nor the Florida Supreme Court can decide this federal issue with finality,” Bondi wrote in a filing late Thursday to the state’s 3rd District Court of Appeal. “The United States Supreme Court, however, ‘has the final word on the United States Constitution.’” Bondi told the appeals court she expects the U.S. Supreme Court will act soon on the gay marriage issue. She cited filings this week from the states of Utah and Oklahoma asking their gay-marriage cases be heard by the nation’s highest court. “A ruling from the United States Supreme Court would end the constitutional debate, end this appeal, and end all related cases,” Bondi wrote. “The State of Florida will respect the United States Supreme Court’s final word. In the meantime, this Court should preserve taxpayer and judicial resources by staying briefing until the United States Supreme Court rules.”

Bondi's motions came in response to a request made by Monroe and Miami-Dade plaintiffs to have their cases joined for presentation to the Florida Supreme Court. Bondi has agreed to the consolidation of the cases, but now wants the state appeals court to just sit on them indefinitely - without ruling and without kicking them upstairs to the state Supreme Court. Neither of yesterday's filings address the marriage rulings in Broward and Palm Beach counties.

FLORIDA: Key West Marriage Plaintiffs Ask To Move Case To State Supreme Court

The two Key West bartenders who two weeks ago won their marriage lawsuit in a Monroe County court are petitioning to have their case heard by the Florida Supreme Court. Via the Miami Herald:

On July 17, Monroe Chief Circuit Judge Luis Garcia declared Florida's 2008 gay-marriage ban unconstitutional, ruling against Bondi, whose office defended the ban. Huntsman and Jones have not been allowed to marry: Florida law mandates that an automatic stay pending appeal is triggered when a public official loses a court case. “We’re filing in the court of appeal, a motion, in layman’s terms, to pass through the jurisdiction of the third District Court of Appeal and to send the case directly to the Florida Supreme Court,” Restivo told the Miami Herald. “It’s going to certainly bring this case quicker to finality. It’s going to apply this case, one way or another, to the entire state of Florida, once the Supreme Court rules on it.” The Monroe County case mirrors one in Miami-Dade, in which Circuit Judge Sarah Zabel on Friday ordered that six same-sex couples also be allowed to marry. Preventing same-sex couples from marrying, Zabel said, “serves only to hurt, to discriminate, to deprive same-sex couples and their families of equal dignity, to label and treat them as second-class citizens, and to deem them unworthy of participation in one of the fundamental institutions of our society.”

Equality Case Files has the request.

FLORIDA: Motion To Lift Stay On Monroe County Same-Sex Marriages Is Denied

In a ruling that only applies in Florida's Monroe County, last week a county circuit judge overturned the state's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. Yesterday that same judge refused to lift his stay on the ruling and allow marriages in the Keys to commence today.

In the emergency motion, the couple’s attorney argued gay couples should be allowed to marry starting Tuesday because of the initial ruling and because the state is unlikely to ultimately win an appeal. Gay marriage proponents have won more than 20 legal decisions against state marriage limits around the country since the U.S. Supreme Court last year struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act. “Every day that goes by, plaintiffs and other same-sex couples are being deprived of important constitutional rights and suffering additional serious, ongoing, and irreparable dignitary, legal and economic harms,” the motion says. Huntsman and Jones are still optimistic, “In the long run we’re going to be victorious,” said Jones, “whether the state attorney general likes it or not.”

The Monroe County case was won by two Key West bartenders who have been a couple for 11 years.

RELATED: In the same CBS Miami report linked above, we get this quote from Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski:

"While Judge Garcia spoke of  'rights,' the Catholic Church speaks of 'right.” As I have said on other occasions, marriage, a union between one man and one woman and any children that arise from that union, is an institution that precedes Church and state; therefore neither Church nor state has any authority to change the nature of marriage. Since time immemorial, marriage has been primarily about the raising of children, who seem to be hardwired to be best raised by a father and a mother who are married to each other. Regardless of Catholic moral teaching on the subject, society has a legitimate interest in preserving marriage as a way of investing in the future of society by providing for the human flourishing of upcoming generations.”

The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops has filed an opposing brief in a separate case that could overturn the marriage ban statewide. A ruling in that case is thought to be imminent.

BREAKING: Florida County Judge Rules Marriage Ban Unconstitutional

Via the Associated Press:

A judge in the Florida Keys has overturned the state’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage after a legal challenge by six gay couples said it effectively made them second-class citizens. The ruling was issued Thursday by Circuit Judge Luis M. Garcia and applies only to Monroe County, which covers the Keys. The lawsuit contended that the same-sex marriage ban approved by voters in 2008 violated the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection under the law. The judge says licenses could be issued starting Tuesday.

As I noted yesterday, this ruling only applies to Monroe County, which stretches from far below Miami to Key West.

UPDATE: Equality Florida is planning celebrations across the state for tonight. Click and find the location nearest you.

UPDATE II: More on the ruling.

The ruling by Circuit Judge Luis M. Garcia applies only to Monroe County, which primarily consists of the Keys, and will certainly be appealed. The lawsuit contended that the same-sex marriage ban approved overwhelmingly by voters in 2008 violated the federal 14th Amendment's guarantee of equal protection under the law. The judge said licenses could not be issued until Tuesday at the earliest. Attorney General Pam Bondi and ban supporters argued that the referendum vote should be respected and that Florida has sole authority to define marriage in the state. The Florida amendment defined marriage solely as a union between one man and one woman.

UPDATE III: Read the full ruling.

At Florida's Marriage Hearing

The Miami Herald has posted the below report on yesterday's hearing of the marriage lawsuit filed by two Key West bartenders against the Monroe County Clerk. The plaintiffs and hate group leader Mat Staver appear in the clip.