Written By: Steve Rothaus

Six same-sex couples on Tuesday sued in Miami-Dade Circuit Court for the right to marry in Florida, once again thrusting the Sunshine State into the national gay-rights spotlight.

Written By: Stephen Nohigren

Six South Florida same-sex couples filed suit in Miami-Dade Circuit Court on Tuesday, seeking to overturn Florida's ban on gay marriage.

The suit, similar to others sweeping the country, contends that the ban stigmatizes gay couples and their children, serves no legitimate government interest and violates due process and equal protection guarantees of the U.S. Constitution.

Written By: Steve Rothaus

In a heartening show of unity and economic good sense, 11 major employers in Florida have joined with Equality Florida, the state's leading gay rights group, to push for a state law banning workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Written By: Timothy Gibbons

Jacksonville companies make up a third of the founding members of a business group looking for a state law banning discrimination against gays and lesbians.

Written By: Steve Rothaus

Equality Florida on Monday announced the launch of Florida Business Coalition for a Competitive Workforce, a group of businesses “aimed at passing a bipartisan bill that would ban anti-gay and gender-based discrimination.”

Among the coalition members are Walt Disney World, Darden and Wells Fargo.

Written by John McDonald

Equality Florida CEO Nadine Smith said the State’s largest civil rights organization would be in court next year as they seek to achieve ambitious goals for the future.

Smith, a longtime human rights activist from Panama City, said the way to bring about same-sex marriage in Florida was through the judicial branch of the State’s government.

Written by John Kennedy

More than a year after the election of Florida’s first openly gay legislators, advocates for the state’s gay and lesbian community are stepping up their focus on the Capitol, advancing a compact but potentially groundbreaking agenda.

The movement had its origins in October, when the advocacy group, Equality Florida, began exchanging ideas with voters, holding its first legislative town hall in the Broward County city of Wilton Manors.

Written By: Mitch Perry

Although significant strides have been made in the professional sports world in recent years regarding gay rights (think of how many players and teams got behind the "It Gets Better" campaign created by Dan Savage), it's still not exactly an arena of progressive thoughts on such issues.

Written By: Matt Baume

We end the year with big marriage wins in Utah and New Mexico. But those victories could still be overturned. We’ll have the latest on attempts to undo marriage in those states. We’ve also seen some major steps towards equality in Oregon, Ohio, Florida, Arkansas and Illinois. Plus, AFER has date for a hearing in its Virginia case.

Written By: Michael E. Miller

Written By: Peter Schorsch

It may have been a hard-fought victory, but ultimately a hollow one.

Passing a domestic-partnership registry ordinance in Pensacola — one of Florida’s most conservative cities — may have encouraged many LGBT advocates, but the gay marriage ban remains enshrined in the Florida Constitution, writes Dara Kam in the News Service of Florida.

Gay marriage supporters say Floridians’ perception of the practice has changed so much in the past five years that they predict marriage equality will come to the state by 2016. Advocacy group Equality Florida is planning a legal strategy at the same time it continues a public opinion campaign and pushes new protections for LGBT people in the statehouse.

Emily Kaiser is a South Florida native, and she’s about to graduate from Florida State University in May. But when she thinks about her dream job, she says, she doesn’t see it being in the Sunshine State.

Although the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in June, that didn't mean that same-sex marriage was suddenly the law in Florida or the rest of the other states that haven't passed marriage equality legislation. Nor did it make same-sex couples automatically eligible for marriage-based federal benefits.

Equality Florida sets goal: Gay and lesbian marriage equality in state of Florida within three years

ATLANTIC BEACH, Fla. -- Roughly 200 people in a cramped meeting space in Atlantic Beach tackled several hot button topics in the city Monday night, including a Human Rights ordinance, created by commissioner Maria Mark. 

One by one, people shuffled out of the crowded hallway or squeezed by rows filled with concerned residents. They approached the podium and microphone to talk about a lack of anti-discrimination laws. 

The ordinance appeared to have garnered a lot of support. But there were a couple of people who spoke out against it.

Straight Allies Advocate For LGBT Equality In Jax

A local ad campaign is encouraging the expansion of Jacksonville's Human Rights Ordinance and is getting support from local, regional and national groups.