Plaintiff couples in Pareto v. Ruvin are, from left, Todd and Jeffrey Delmay, Cathy Pareto and Karla Arguello, Vanessa and Melanie Alenier, and Don Johnston and Jorge Diaz. Pareto and Arguello received the first marriage license issued to a same-sex couple in Florida.
Karla Arguello and Cathy Pareto, one of six plaintiff couples in the marriage equality case Pareto v. Ruvin, today became the first same-sex couple to receive a marriage license in Florida.
The two applied for the license this morning (Monday, Jan. 5), as soon as Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Sarah Zabel lifted her stay of her own ruling in the case, in which she declared the Florida marriage equality ban unconstitutional.
Judge Zabel has agreed to marry the plaintiff couples who wish to marry today, including Arguello and Pareto, and Jeff and Todd Delmay.
The plaintiffs in the case are represented by the law firm Carlton Fields Jorden Burt, Elizabeth F. Schwartz, Mary B. Meeks, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR).
