Sherry Johnson

In 2012, Johnson began to lobby the Florida state legislature to make child marriage illegal. Johnson initially faced opposition or disbelief from lawmakers, with some lawmakers incorrectly asserting to her that child marriage such as hers was not legal in Florida, or that her case was anomalous. However, Johnson's ideas gained traction with lawmakers over time. After the Florida Senate voted unanimously to ban child marriage, Senator Lizbeth Benacquisto called Johnson "the reason for the bill." The proposed ban on child marriage was amended, however, to allow 17-year-olds to marry. 17-year-olds can marry in the state of Florida, regardless of if a pregnancy is involved, as long as their intended partner is less than two years older than they are. Such couples would also have to take a premarital preparation course, as well as sign an affidavit that the marriage is not coerced. If a pregnancy is involved, the couple must receive additional counseling. This amended legislation again passed unanimously in the Senate; in the House, support was near-unanimous, with George Moraitis the lone dissenter. Moraitis stated, "I'm particularly focused on the pregnancy aspect of it. I don't want the message to be that it's better to not get married." On 23 March 2018, this legislation (Senate Bill 140) was signed by Governor Rick Scott.

At age 19, Johnson remarried a man 18 years her senior. Together, they had three children. They were married for 26 years before separating in 2002.

At the time, 16- and 17-year-old minors could get married with parental permission in Florida, and children of any age could be married with the permission of a county judge if a pregnancy was involved. While the first judge refused to license the marriage of a child so young—though it was legal—a second judge agreed to grant the license and Johnson was married to Tolbert on March 29, 1971, at age 11. Johnson had six children by the time she was 17-years-old, and had to drop out of school after ninth grade to raise them. At age 17, she sought help from the Legal Aid Society, which gave her $75 to pay for an attorney for her divorce

Sherry Johnson (b. 1960) is an activist who advocates for restrictions on child marriage in the United States. She successfully campaigned for tighter restrictions on child marriage in her home state of Florida. Prior to 2018, pregnant children of any age in Florida could get married with a judge's permission. With the passage of the 2018 legislation, children under 17 are prohibited from getting married.