Same-sex marriage to begin today in Florida

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Miami-Dade County will lead the way for same-sex marriage in the Sunshine State, allowing couples to marry Monday afternoon. The rest of Florida will likely follow suit just after midnight. Back in July, Circuit Judge Sarah Zabel had ruled the state's gay-marriage ban discriminatory, but a legal stay on the decision had delayed marriages. Zabel lifted the stay at an 11 a.m. hearing Monday.

While Miami-Dade County will issue marriage licenses immediately, same-sex marriage should commence in the rest of Florida on Tuesday as per a ruling by U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle. Hinkle on New Year's Day clarified an earlier ruling, saying Florida clerks in all of the state's 67 counties are bound by the U.S. Constitution to not enforce the state's marriage ban.