Rush for same-sex marriages never materialized

Although there were two protest groups observed at the St. Johns County courthouse yesterday, they remained peaceful and the first day of same-sex marriages came and went without fanfare.

The Clerks of Court at the courthouses in Duval, Clay and Baker counties have put a halt to performing any marriages; instead, they say that they will only comply with their obligation to issue marriage licenses.

“We didn’t get a big group of people,” Chief Deputy Clerk George Lareau told reporters. “Only five couples came in by 10:00 a.m.”

The office had contingency plans in place Tuesday to handle a rush of same-sex couples seeking marriage licenses with a ceremony; special staff assignments were made for license issuance and performing marriage ceremonies and a signup sheet was available in case a line started to form. Neither plan was utilized.

All marriage license applicants have to complete a court-approved marriage class, in advance, or they have to wait three days to get married.

According to Lareau, there were four same-sex couples reportedly waiting when the office doors opened at the St Johns County Clerk of Court at 8:00 a.m. A lesbian couple was the first in line to obtain a marriage license.

By the end of the day, sixteen same-sex couples received marriage licenses. Of those, nine couples were women of the same gender, seven were men. The office only performed three same-sex marriage ceremonies — one male couple and two female couples.