MIAMI — Wedding ceremonies began and ended in the middle of the night in Fort Lauderdale and Key West, and hundreds of other marriages played out under blue skies in Miami Beach and Orlando, as Florida completed its long, arduous journey Tuesday to become the 36th state to legalize same-sex marriage.
Along the way, the third-largest state, the home of antigay crusades in the 1970s, became a vivid symbol of the extraordinary changes that have shifted the landscape of marriage in America. Only six years ago, Florida passed a constitutional amendment to ban on gay marriage, garnering 62 percent of the vote.
Arms interlocked, about 20 gay and lesbian couples, too eager to wait any longer, were married in a five-minute ceremony at 3 a.m. on Tuesday at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale. “Do you take each other to be your spouse for life?” asked Howard C. Forman, the Broward County clerk of courts, emphasizing the word “spouse.” Together, the couples uttered their individual vows to each other. “I pronounce you legally married,” Mr. Forman said. With that, the couples and their families and friends roared, cheered and clapped, and Nat King Cole’s “L-O-V-E” blasted into the room.
For Florida, the path to “I do” for same-sex couples is particularly noteworthy. It was here that Anita Bryant, a singer and the state’s pitchwoman for orange juice, began a high-profile campaign in 1977 to defeat a Dade County ordinance that barred discrimination on the basis of homosexuality. Six months later, Mrs. Bryant, whose antigay views and organization went national, succeeded when a large majority of voters in the county repealed the local law.
On Tuesday, opposition to gay and lesbian marriage, while present, was mostly muted. Gov. Rick Scott of Florida, a Republican and an opponent of same-sex marriage, did not mention the flurry of weddings crisscrossing the state during his inaugural speech. In large swaths of the state, there was widespread enthusiasm about same-sex marriages, both as a human rights issue and for its economic benefits. Floridians anticipated a boomlet for tourism and businesses catering to weddings and honeymoons.
For others, the excitement was deeply personal and long overdue. Anthony Butera, 44, and Abdel Magid, 45, said there was no doubt that marrying as soon as possible in their home state was a must. A couple for 12 years, the two donned wedding finery — Mr. Butera wore a cream tuxedo jacket with a black handkerchief and Mr. Magid a black tuxedo jacket with a white boutonniere — and infectious smiles.
“It’s special to be recognized and be treated like everyone else,” Mr. Magid said.
Similar late-night ceremonies were held in Key West and Palm Beach County as scores of jubilant couples exchanged marriage vows and rings. Miami-Dade was the first to proceed on Monday when Sarah Zabel, a state judge there, lifted her temporary ban on same-sex marriages after Judge Robert L. Hinkle of Federal District Court in Tallahassee clarified his August order ruling same-sex marriages as constitutional.
Three hours after lifting her ban, Judge Zabel officially married two of the six couples who had sued the county over the same-sex marriage ban. The weddings took place at Miami’s civil courthouse, where the couples exchanged rings.
As of 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, all 67 county clerks of the courts were required to issue wedding licenses to gay and lesbian couples. Some, like Mr. Forman, of Broward County, which has a large gay and lesbian population, embraced the duty eagerly.
Others, particularly in more conservative northern Florida, took a more reluctant approach. While county clerks said they would abide by the law and issue licenses, some clerks, including for Duval County, home to Jacksonville, announced last week that they would end ceremonial courthouse weddings so as not to force staff members who object to the marriages to participate.
The clerk of courts in Duval County, Ronnie Fussell, told The Florida Times-Union that marriage should be “between a man and a woman.”
“Personally, it would go against my belief to perform a ceremony that is other than that,” Mr. Fussell said.
Florida’s long road to same-sex marriage ended Tuesday after a temporary ban issued by Judge Hinkle expired at midnight on Monday. On Aug. 21, Judge Hinkle ruled that the state’s same-sex marriage ban was unconstitutional, as part of a federal lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida on behalf of same-sex couples and a gay-rights group. Judge Hinkle issued a stay, or a temporary hold, on his decision and gave Attorney General Pam Bondi until Monday to file an appeal. But her attempts to extend the deadline failed in the Appellate Court and the Supreme Court.
After two weeks of confusion over whether the ruling applied to only one county in Florida, Judge Hinkle clarified his order on Thursday, saying that the “constitution” requires that clerks in all of the state’s 67 counties issue marriage licenses.
While same-sex marriage is now legal in Florida, the larger battle on the merits of the case must still be waged in the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit and, perhaps, the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is expected to meet this week to consider whether to take up related cases.
As gay couples began to wed, Jeb Bush, the state’s former governor and long an opponent of same-sex marriages, struck a conciliatory tone on Monday, saying in a statement that “regardless of our disagreements, we have to respect the rule of law.”
Mr. Bush, who is considering running for president, did not indicate any enthusiasm for challenging the ruling. “I hope that we can show respect for the good people on all sides of the gay and lesbian marriage issue — including couples making lifetime commitments to each other who are seeking greater legal protections and those of us who believe marriage is a sacrament and want to safeguard religious liberty,” Mr. Bush said.
Shortly after sunset on Miami Beach, a gay-rights stronghold, dozens of gay and lesbian couples reaffirmed their commitments at the botanical gardens. Many had run out of patience with Florida and gotten married elsewhere. Standing in a thick crowd, Julio Sanchez, 52, and Antonio Gonzalez Sanchez, 56, beamed. They were married June 11 in New York.
“I wanted to get married for the longest time,” said Mr. Gonzalez Sanchez, who grew up in Miami, adding that the two had been together now for 18 years. “We waited and waited and waited, and it didn’t come through. Now we got a surprise.”
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