Nearly 1,200 gay and lesbian couples
exchanged vows on Monday and Tuesday as the state's gay marriage ban
fell.
Gay couples began exchanging vows on
Monday in Miami-Dade County and statewide on Tuesday, making Florida
the 36th state where gay couples can marry.
(Related: Miami-Dade
begins issuing marriage licenses to gay couples.)
According to the AP, 1,175 licenses
were issued to gay couples as of Tuesday evening in the state's 20
largest counties, which make up more than 75 percent of the state's
population.
Roberto Roboso of the Miami-Dade
clerk's office, where 101 licenses were issued to gay couples on
Monday and Tuesday, said: “That was a big bang.”
Counties the AP included in its survey
include Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Hillsborough, Orange,
Pinellas, Duval, Lee, Pok, Brevard, Volusia, Pasco, Seminole,
Sarasota, Marion, Manatee, Collier, Lake, Escambia and St. Lucie.
Broward County, which includes Fort
Lauderdale, issued 184 licenses to gay couples, the most of any
county.