Ft. Lauderdale – By a narrow margin, Fort Lauderdale City Commissioners approved a resolution supporting marriage equality and urging Florida state leaders to take action to legalize same-sex marriages.
The resolution passed with a 3-2 vote on June 17. Commissioners Dean Trantalis, Bobby DuBose and Bruce Roberts voted in favor, while Mayor Jack Seiler and Vice Mayor Romney Rogers voted in opposition.
There was concern that there weren’t enough votes to pass the resolution, so residents, professionals, clergy and business owners of the City of Fort Lauderdale to show up at City Hall to speak. Of the more than 40 people who spoke at the meeting, only two were against the resolution for religious reasons.
The resolution was introduced by openly gay Commissioner Trantalis, a long-time supporter for human rights and equality, especially in Broward County. In January 1999, he co-wrote and pushed the Broward County domestic partnership law, which extended spousal-like benefits not only to county employees, but to all employees of entities doing business within the county.
Fort Lauderdale is currently home to 150 LGBT-owned businesses in Broward County, where 1.2 million visitors spent $1.4 billion dollars–most of that in Fort Lauderdale—in 2013 alone. There was concern that if the resolution failed, it would impact the economy of the city, especially the money brought in by LGBT-owned businesses.
Despite Amendment 2, Florida’s ban on same-sex marriages, the City of Fort Lauderdale hopes the resolution will initiate action in Tallahassee to strike down the 2008 amendment and legalize same-sex marriages.
