Florida has become the 36th state where gay marriage is now legal.

And Miami-Dade County is the first Florida county to officially usher same-sex unions into the Orange State.

Lifting a stay on her July ruling that Florida's same-sex marriage ban violates equal protections under the U.S. Constitution, Judge Sarah Zabel made an 11 a.m. ruling that same-sex couples could start getting marriage licenses in Miami-Dade County right away.

Same-sex marriages were expected to begin statewide after midnight on Tuesday.

According to the Miami Herald, cheers erupted and couples cried tears of joy.

The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops released a statement regarding the Florida decision in which they stated that the redefinition of marriage “will have implications not yet fully understood.” Furthermore, they asserted that: “Marriage based on the complementarity of the sexes is the lifeblood of family, and family is the foundation of our society. The crisis that sadly the family is experiencing today will only be aggravated by imposing this redefinition of marriage. Society must rediscover the irreplaceable roles of both mother and father who bring unique gifts to the education and rearing of children.”

Florida's ban on same-sex marriage was amended to the state constitution in 2008 by voters by a 60 percent margin.

But a set of rulings from judges in Florida found that the ban was discriminatory and in fact a violation of equal treatment and due process rights provided in the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Deborah Shure and Aymarah Robles received the first same-sex marriage license officially issued in Florida. The pair attended the hearing and later discovered they were the first ones in line at the clerk's desk.

In response to the lifting of the ban, in Jacksonville, according to the AP, Duval County Court Clerk Ronnie Fussell has shut down the courthouse chapel, saying no marriage ceremonies, be they gay or straight, would be allowed.