Florida Attorney General: My opposition to same-sex marriage isn’t personal, I have many gay friends
Florida’s Attorney General Pam Bondi has claimed that defending a ban on same-sex marriage doesn’t make her a homophobe – because she has many gay friends.
Bondi – who has divorced twice and is married to her third husband – is known for her aggressive defense of the state’s same-sex marriage ban, appealing several successive rulings and claiming in a legal brief that it would cause “significant harm” to the public.
After Bondi lost legal battles in four separate counties, Florida’s same-sex marriage ban was declared unconstitutional by a federal judge last month, but the Republican plans to appeal.
In an interview with Bay News 9 today, she denied there is a personal agenda behind her attacks on same-sex marriage.
She said: “I put my hand on a Bible. I raised my other hand, and I swore to uphold the Constitution of the state of Florida. The voters by over 60 percent six years ago put this in our Constitution.
“People always talk about personal views, it has to do with an Attorney General doing her job. It is my job.
“I have a lot of gay friends, I can tell you I sat in a church and took pictures when one of my friends adopted two little boys from Russia before you could adopt legally here in Florida. I took the pictures at the baptism.”
However, when asked whether she had ever been to a same-sex wedding ceremony or commitment ceremony, she admitted “I have not.”
Despite her claims, Governors and Attorney Generals in several other states have refused to defend same-sex marriage bans.
