Marriage equality brought a little more sunshine to Florida this week. Among the six plaintiff couples in the case that won it are four couples raising children, and another with an adult child and two grandchildren.
One of the couples, Melanie and Vanessa Alenier, also spent years trying to secure the adoption of the child they were raising. In October 2010, they became the second same-sex couple to adopt in the state.
Of course, 14 Florida counties have stopped offering courthouse weddings to anyone now that same-sex couples can marry, which is ridiculous. Kudos to stand-up folks like Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, who extended an invitation for couples to marry in his county instead.
Watch below as the plaintiffs learn the stay on marriages has been lifted, and as moms Karla Arguello and Catherina Pareto become the first same-sex couple in the state to wed, followed by dads Jeff and Todd Delmay. (The Miami Herald has more on the two couples. It also mentions the story of Aymarah Robles, 60, and Deborah Shure, 66, who wed on Tuesday with Robles’ 89-year-old mother walking them both down the aisle.)
Video credit: Maddy Powers via Equality Florida. Congratulations to them all!