Florida to vote on gay-marriage ban in November. Petition drive beats Friday deadline

Source: The Sun-Sentinel

By Aaron Deslatte | Tallahassee Bureau
February 2, 2008

TALLAHASSEE - Florida voters will be asked to decide in November whether to write a ban on same-sex marriage into Florida's Constitution.

The state Division of Elections made the surprise announcement late Friday, after the signature-petition drive launched more than two years ago by social conservative groups managed to beat the signature deadline to make the presidential election ballot.

The group pushing the ban collected more than 649,000 signatures — well over the 611,000 required to place a citizens' initiative before voters statewide.

However, another hot-button proposal called the Florida Hometown Democracy that sought to limit growth by requiring public votes on development decisions fell 60,000 signatures short by Friday's deadline.





Read more: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/florida/sfl-flfgay0202sbfeb02,0,3657518.story

---

*

Poll:

How will you vote?
Do you approve or disapprove of the citizen initiative to ban gay marriage?

I approve of the initiative to ban gay marriage (177 responses)
38.3%

I disapprove of the initiative to ban gay marriage (275 responses)
59.5%

I am undecided on the issue (10 responses)
2.2%
o 462 total responses (Results not scientific)



See also:


Florida: “marriage protection” amendment will be on the Nov. ballot
Posted by Pam Spaulding February 2, 2008 in Uncategorized, GLBT, Election, Family Matters

<snip>

Yes, this is going to be an election issue yet again, in a state that has been critical in deciding who ends up in the White House, placed in the center of the marriage equality storm. It cannot be avoided. It will force the intellectually dishonest leave-it-to-the states folks to answer for the ability of Florida to deny civil rights to a group of taxpaying residents.

Nadine Smith of Equality Florida and the Fairness for ALL Families Campaign urges people to reach out and educate voters on the issue; since the amendment would do away with existing domestic partnership protections. In a state like Florida, with many retirees, this can resonate with them as it did in Arizona, the only state that has turned away an amendment at the polls (in 2006). During primary day in Florida this week, members of Fairness went out to engage voters on the issue.

More:
http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2008/02/02/florida-anti-gay-marriage-amendment-will-be-on-the-nov-ballot

Also:

Florida Primary Battleground Over Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

Posted: January 29, 2008 - 11:00 am ET
(Miami, Florida) A heavy voter turnout Tuesday for the Florida primary became an opportunity for supporters and opponents of a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in the Sunshine State.

Backers of the proposed amendment have been scrambling to find 20,000 signatures by Thursday to get the measure on November's ballot after the Secretary of State announced earlier this month that a counting mistake put them well short of the required 611,000 signatures needed. (story)

Members of Florida4Marriage fanned out at polling stations in Miami-Dade where the error occurred, urging people to sign the petitions.

The amendment says, "Inasmuch as marriage is the legal union of only one man and one woman, no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized."

Florida already has a law restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples.

More:
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon08/01/012908flamar.htm


And:

Florida Coalitions Warn Primary Voters About Anti-Gay Amendment
by Kilian Melloy
EDGE Contributor
Wednesday Jan 30, 2008

The Jan. 29 primary that saw John McCain beat out Mitt Romney in Florida also brought legions of Floridians to the polls to combat an anti-gay constitutional amendment that opponents say would also hurt heterosexual families.

Volunteers and staff from organizations and coalitions opposed to the so-called Marriage Protection Amendment worked the polling place crowds on Tues., Jan. 29, talking to voters about the impact the amendment might have on families of all sexual persuasions if the amendment were to land on the ballot for the general election and be approved by Florida voters next November.

<snip>

Nadine Smith of Fairness for All Families, a coalition of over 200 organizations that opposes the amendment, wrote in an editorial that even conservatives have their doubts about the amendment, which, it is feared, could lead to unmarried heterosexuals--especially among the more vulnerable older demographic--losing access to health and other benefits.

Smith also wrote that the amendment is essentially a means of rallying right-wing voters.

More:
http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=glbt&sc2=news&sc3=&id=55574

For a list of peope who signed the anti-gay petition, see:
http://www.knowthyneighbor.org/florida/

..and that is the strategy.

I'm guessing so, anyway, based on the shiat I see and hear from my neighbors here in FL.

We'll do Disney Land in California, followed by The Air America Cruise in the spring.

That is, so long as that giant bag of douche, Lionel, is NOT on the cruise.

Air America: Bring Back Sam Seder
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/bringbacksam/

And if you will remember, former sweetheart Anita Bryant got dropped summarily by the Florida Orange Juice Commission as spokes person after she started her virulent anti-gay campaign in the mid seventies.

(Just as a side note, Anita Bryant was signing autographs in the courtyard of City Hall just across the street from the college I attended in the seventies. That college and the town had then, and still does today, a large number of gay people. One of the gay students had a bumper sticker that stated "Sucking Orange Makes You Queer" or word to that effect. He took the bumper sticker across the street and asked Ms. Bryant to sign it.

All bumper stickers in those days had a waxy covering over the stickem part of the sticker and Ms. Bryant's pen would not write on the back. So she turned it over and read the message on the sticker.

And promptly went into an hysterical, almost apoplectic, screaming fit. She stopped signing autographs and ended the official appearnce, practically frothing at the mouth. Most of those who were there or heard about it chuckled for weeks over it..... Even if there was a slight uncomfortable feeling that Bryant was acting like someone who was on the edge of a complete mental/emotional breakdown and this might have been the one incident tht pushed her over the edge.

On the other hand, she was dishing it out in spades, she deserved to have a tiny taste of her own medicine.)

One other thing you might want to think about. Almost all of the gay people I know in this town, and there are many of them, are involved in tourism in some manner or another. In fact, I can't think of one gay person I know who isn't.

When you boycott Florida, the first people who are hurt and who generally are hurt the most and the longest are the tourism workers.

And Disney World has a good reputation for supporting gay rights even if they and the whold Disney Corporation are, well, a corporation.

Seems america is still not ready for equality for ALL citizens. I suppose people aren't progressive enough for everyone to count. Sad, very sad. :(

Not ALL of Florida is evangelicals ya know.
Southern Florida is full of transplants from other places like NYC.
Miami and Ft. Lauderdale have very large and vocal gay communities.
Don't give up yet. :)

Many of petitions are likely fraudulent...

Illinois kept the gay marriage ban off ballot because teams of people got tens (hundreds?) of thousands of signatures bounced off.

ALSO, be sure to check if these sigatures were gathered on church grounds. If so, this is an IRS violation. In Illinois, some churches even had the petitions on the pews!

Nuff said!

They know their candidates are weak and this will pull the bigots out in droves to vote.

ARGH!!

On the bright side, they are running out of states for which these things can be put on the ballot.

Do you approve or disapprove of the citizen initiative to ban gay marriage?

I approve of the initiative to ban gay marriage (237 responses)

38.8%

I disapprove of the initiative to ban gay marriage (360 responses)

58.9%

I am undecided on the issue (14 responses)

2.3%

611 total responses (Results not scientific)

Should have known they would pull this out of the drawer again this time around. The asshats need to be lured into the voting booth with bigoted legislation.

This proves just how un-American these people are.

it now requires 60%

So, there is a decent chance this will go down in flame as it should.

Damned bigots. (My mother will almost certainly vote for this, so at least I can cancel out her vote.)

And I really like the idea of getting those signatures checked.

no matter what the exit polls say, deeply religious pro-war "values" voters will come out of the woodwork to vote against them gays.

florida will probably have one of it's highest turnouts in a long time.

people LOVE to hate.

My state is largely represented by dipshit troglodytes and ignorant bigots. For example, Rhonda fucking Storms.