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1st Florida Gay Divorce Granted By Judge

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FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami/AP) — The LGBT community has been clamoring for gay marriage to be passed in Florida. Yet on Wednesday it was the antithesis of a marriage that helped progress the cause.

The first formal divorce for a gay couple in Florida has been granted by a county judge. The same judge who declared the state's ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional.

Circuit Judge Dale Cohen on Wednesday dissolved the marriage of Heather Brassner and Megan Lade. They were united in a 2002 civil union in Vermont. Cohen had ruled in August that Florida's gay marriage ban is unconstitutional and that out-of-state gay marriages should be recognized.

Brassner attorney Nancy Brodzki said it was Florida's first gay divorce.

Brodzki says she expects Attorney General Pam Bondi to appeal the decision, just as she has several other rulings against the gay marriage ban. There was no immediate reaction from Bondi's office.

Voters approved the ban in 2008.

(TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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