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Currently under Florida law, a minor is allowed to tie the knot with parental permission and court approval if the couple are expecting or already have a baby. A minor may also get married if both parents are dead or if the minor has previously been married.

In 2013, Florida recorded 110 marriages of children 16 and younger, and 150 such marriages in 2012.

At least one Florida lawmaker, Rep. Cynthia Stafford, D-Miami, is alarmed. “Marriage is an adult responsibility,” she says. “We don’t want them to vote, we don’t want them to drink alcohol, they can’t drive a car, and we allow them to marry under 16?”

Stafford introduced a new bill (HB 1279) that would ban nuptials for those under 16. It passed unanimously passed the House Civil Justice Subcommittee on Tuesday without debate.

Motivating Stafford was a 1972 case out of Pinellas County. Sherry Johnson, now of Tallahassee, was raped at 10, pregnant and married by 11. Johnson’s mother gave consent for her daughter “to marry the 20-year-old who raped her,” Stafford said.

More recently in 2012 there was a 13-year-old groom who was married. Said Stafford, “Here we have a 13-year-old still going through puberty, who now is a husband because, apparently, he made a baby. I just don’t think that should be the policy of this state.”

Meanwhile, consenting adults, some who have been together for over 50 years are denied the right to be legally married. All because they are gay – and all to preserve the sanctity of the institution.

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Carrie Stone