JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Same-sex couples in Jacksonville were counting down the hours Monday until they could get a marriage license as the judge's stay on a ruling lifting Florida's same-sex marriage ban was set to expire.
Tara Day and Tammy Voisard, who already had an unofficial wedding in June 2011, said they plan to be the first same-sex couple legally married in Jacksonville on Tuesday.
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The two have a 10½-month-old son together, named Colton, and now Voisard will be able to adopt him, which the pair said is even more special than getting married.
"That's my son in there. This is my wife. It means security. It means equality," Day said. "This is a day to be celebrated, to be rejoiced and enjoy. It's a changing part in Florida history. We can say we were there when (it happened). There are plenty of people that remember when interracial marriage wasn't legal and now it is. We're just a different part of history."
Day said the last few years have been an emotional roller coaster, never knowing if or when same-sex marriage would be legal.
"I was hoping," Day said. "I'm 50, but I didn't see it happening. I said to Tara, 'I hope it happens before our son goes to kindergarten, before he turns 5,' but for this to happen so suddenly is amazing. It's the best New Year's gift ever."
Eric Block, a local lawyer, said he can't believe it's taken this long to legalize same-sex marriage in Florida.
"Are we really having this discussion in 2015, where they can't just exist?" Block said. "We talk about them like they're some kind of alien. It's horrible."
Block's son is gay. He said he's known since his son was 5 years old and everything changed for Block after that, including his mentality.
"I'm ashamed to say that in my life, I've told gay jokes and made off-color remarks," Block said. "I don't do it anymore. When it's in your home, you have a different perspective when it's your child."
Now, Block wants to make up for lost time by helping others by holding wedding ceremonies for same-sex couples in his law office. That offer comes after Duval County Clerk of Court Ronnie Fussell closed the courthouse chapel to weddings on the heels of the legalization of gay marriage in the state.
"I hope that the end result of all of this is that there is enough public pressure to turn the clerk around, reopen the chapel and get on with things," Block said.
John Stemberger, the chairman responsible for Amendment 32, the original ban on same-sex marriage in Florida, said the law passed by 61.9 percent, and he believes the new ruling won't last long.
"I think that the obvious injustice here from my standpoint is: What about those 5 million people?" said Stemberger, president of the Florida Family Policy Council. "Five million voters have been overthrown by a handful of lawyers in black robes, and I think this is not the way democracy should work."
Stemberger said in a news conference Monday that he believes the issue of same-sex marriage will eventually end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court has decided to discuss Friday whether it will hear challenges to same-sex marriage bans in four states. It's unclear what any decision from the high court could mean for Florida.
In the meantime, a mass wedding of same-sex couples is expected Saturday morning in Jacksonville at Hemming Plaza.