Gay Divorce in Florida Courts – Part 1

I believe that recent case decisions indicate that neither Florida statute 741.212 defining marriage as one between a man and a woman, nor the Florida constitution, will prevent a Florida court from entertaining a divorce action filed by same-sex couples. In a recent case, a Florida Supreme Court held that for purposes of equal protection, the State did not have a legitimate interest in precluding a same-sex couple from being given the same opportunities as heterosexual couples to demonstrate requisite intent to parent a child. The court also held that the statutory differentiation between a heterosexual couple and a same-sex couple regarding entering into a surrogacy contract lacked a rational basis and violated due process of law. Furthermore, in…