TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Florida lawmaker just filed a bill to remove a section of a law that bans same-sex marriage.
While same-sex marriage has been legal in the Sunshine State for nearly eight years because of court rulings, language that includes that ban remains.
The bill filed on Dec. 14 by Sen. Tina Polsky from Boca Raton is asking for the "[deletion of] a prohibition on the recognition of same-sex marriages; deleting a prohibition on the state and its agencies and subdivisions giving effect to a public act, record, or judicial proceeding that respects a same-sex marriage or relationship or a claim arising from such marriage or relationship; deleting the definition of the term “marriage”; providing an effective date."
It's not in effect, but the new bill would remove it from state law starting July 1, 2023.
The 2023 session will start in March.
President Joe Biden also signed gay marriage legislation into law Tuesday before a crowd of thousands, a ceremony that reflected the growing acceptance of same-sex unions.
“This law and the love it defends strike a blow against hate in all its forms," Biden said on the South Lawn of the White House. "And that’s why this law matters to every single American.”
The new law is intended to safeguard gay marriages if the U.S. Supreme Court ever reverses Obergefell v. Hodges, its 2015 decision legalizing same-sex unions nationwide. The new law also protects interracial marriages. In 1967, the Supreme Court, in Loving v. Virginia, struck down laws in 16 states barring interracial marriage.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.