Florida's attorney general upsets advocates of same-sex marriage

Attorney General Pam Bondi rubs Equality Florida the wrong way

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Comments from Florida's attorney general on same-sex marriage have ticked off Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender advocates, and the state says voters wanted it this way.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is fighting to dismiss a challenge to the state's same sex marriage law, but the wording she used has rubbed Equality Florida the wrong way.

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"It's the wrong decision, the wrong thing to do," said Jim VanRiper, of Equality Florida.

Bondi said that "disrupting Florida's existing marriage laws would impose significant public harm."

"She chose to take the political angle instead of the personal people angle," VanRiper said. "This has nothing to do with anybody except people in same-sex marriages, and instead, she chose politics over people."

The attorney general declined to comment, but released a lengthy statement on the case.

Bondi reminded voters in the statement that they passed a constitutional amendment to define marriage as being between a man and a woman in 2008.

Bondi said she was "deeping her sworn duty to uphold the laws of the land" and "defending the wishes of the voters."

The American Civil Liberties Union filed ta federal lawsuit in March.

"Obviously refusing to recognize the marriages of loving and committed couples does nothing to promote marriage," said lead attorney Daniel Tilley.

Nineteen states have legalized gay marriage. The state is digging in to try and stop Florida from becoming the 20th.

ACLU's lawsuit with the state is continuing to move forward. A Miami-Dade circuit judge will hear arguments for the case on July 2.