A county circuit judge in Florida struck down a ban on same sex marriage, thus allowing couples in Monroe County to get married starting Tuesday.  It’s a limited ruling, but it paves the way for a more expansive, state-wide ruling.  

Monroe County Circuit Judge Luis Garcia overturned Florida’s 2008 constitutional gay-marriage ban on Thursday, and ordered that two Key West bartenders and other gay couples seeking to wed be allowed to marry.

The judge gave the Monroe County Clerk’s Office until Tuesday to begin issuing marriage licenses to gay couples.

“The court is aware that the majority of voters oppose same-sex marriage, but it is our country’s proud history to protect the rights of the individual, the rights of the unpopular and rights of the powerless, even at the cost of offending the majority,” Garcia wrote in his opinion, released about 1 p.m. Thursday.

The judge gave the clerk’s office several days to prepare “in consideration of… anticipated rise in activity.”

It was unclear early Thursday afternoon whether the state will appeal the ruling, which applies only to Monroe County. A judge in Miami-Dade County has yet to rule in a similar case.

Yippee. I’m so ecstatic, I’m positively gay.