US: Florida Governor dodges questions about same-sex marriage while Attorney General fights it

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Florida Governor Rick Scott has repeatedly dodged questions about same-sex marriage, while Attorney General Pam Bondi attempts to halt marriages by filing an appeal.

On Thursday, a judge in Monroe County overturned a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, legalising it in just one Florida county.

Same-sex couples could begin to receive marriage licences from Tuesday, but Attorney General Pam Bondi has filed a last-ditch appeal to block the ruling, and stop the marriages from going ahead.

Despite the controversy, Republican Rick Scott refused to clarify to reporters whether he supported Bondi’s action or not, claiming simultaneously that he supports ‘traditional marriage’ and doesn’t want marriage discrimination.

He said: “People have different views. The attorney general made the decision to go forward, but from my stand point and probably hers, Pam Bondi, nobody wants discrimination in our state.

“We have a court system, people have the opportunity to go to court, and make sure their views are expressed. It’s completely Pam Bondi’s decision what happens in that case.

“My stand point [is] I understand people have different views. Florida is a traditional marriage state. People have the opportunity to go to court and make their case.

“I believe in traditional marriage, I’ve been married since I was 19 years old, but I want to make sure no one’s discriminated against.”

Bondi, who has divorced twice, has previously claimed in a legal brief that “disrupting” marriage laws by introducing same-sex marriage would “impose significant public harm”.