WILTON MANORS, Fla. – Wilton Manors city leaders and residents rejoiced on Tuesday after President Joe Biden signed historic legislation Tuesday protecting same-sex marriages nationally,
This is a day that many people in South Florida thought that they would never get.
The bill means that they don’t risk losing the recognition of same-sex or interracial marriages and a future Supreme Court ruling won’t invalidate same-sex marriages across the country.
Local 10 News’ Andrew Perez spoke with Robert Boo, CEO of Pride Center at Equality Park, who said that the bill has taken a lot of hard work to get it passed.
“It has taken a lot of hard, proactive work to ensure that the rights are solidified,” Boo said. ”This only justifies and now puts into law that we have equal rights. We are not looking for special rights, we just want equal rights.”
Douglas Perron, who was recently engaged to his boyfriend of two years, says it’s the first time in his life he’s ever thought of losing his right to marry.
“Me coming out as gay, I feel like my rights have been protected for a while and now this is real,” said Perron. “They could possibly be taken away.”
Local 10 News went to Rosie’s Bar and Grill for the momentous occasion and spoke with General Manager Peter Kiplinger who said that our freedom to love who we want shouldn’t be taken away.
“This doesn’t mean that everyone is going to agree with it but at least we’ll have the rights to live our life and love who we want,” Kiplinger said.
States will not be required to issue same-sex marriage licenses but will be required to recognize them.
“You want to be with that person forever,” Perron said. “You just want that seal on there and it’s just a freedom that we have in this country and should never be taken away from anyone.