Florida Marriage Amendment (2008)

From Ballotpedia

Voting on marriage

2008
Arizona Marriage Act Arkansas Adoption Ban California Proposition 8 Florida Marriage Amendment
2006
Arizona Prop 107 Colorado Prop 43 Alabama Marriage Act Idaho Amendment 2 South Carolina South Dakota Amendment C Tennessee Marriage Act Virginia Marriage Act Wisconsin Question One

The Florida Marriage Amendment, also known as Proposition 2 and The Marriage Protection Amendment, is a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in Florida. The proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution will appear on the November 4, 2008 ballot in Florida. In order to pass, the amendment will require a 60% majority of those voting in the election. As of September 8th, 2008, a slight majority of Floridians support the ballot measure (55%), but not 60%; 41% oppose the measure.^[1]

The amendment as written includes a clause prohibiting judges from overturning the law. This is a response to what happened in Massachusetts, where a judge overturned that state's law banning same-sex marriage.^[2]

The ballot title for the initiative says, "In as much as a marriage is the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife, no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized."

1 Support
2 Opposition
- 2.1 Financing the opposition
3 Status
4 See also
5 External links
6 References

Support

Florida4Marriage is the sponsor of the initiative. The group says that it has widespread support with approximately 35.1% of registered Democrats, 49.2% of registered Republicans and 15.6% of registered independents in favor of the initiatve.^[3]

Many also believe that the constitutional amendment is also being pushed in order to bring out more conservative voters for the presidential election.^[4]

Although taking a "live and let live" stance on the amendment in the past, Gov. Crist has also announced his support of Amendment 2. During an August 4 question and answer session with reporters, Crist said of Amendment 2, "I support it." There were claims this was a misprint, but according to Crist spokesman Sterling Ivey, "Yes, he's very supportive of it."

In 2006 Crist signed a petition supporting placing the measure on the ballot, but later chastised the Florida Republican party for contributing $300,000 to Florida4marriage.org, the political action committee supporting the measure.^[5]

On September 9, 2008, Governor Crist announced that he will not actively back the amendment, as it is not a top priority for him. "I'll support it, I'll vote for it, move on," the governor said of the Amendment 2 gay-marriage ban in an interview during a trip to tour flood-damaged areas in Central Florida. "It's not top-tier for me, put it that way." Derek Newton, campaign manager for Say No to 2, said Crist's bare-minimum endorsement of the marriage ban is just the latest indicator that the "passion and the fire and the light around this issue has dimmed."^[6]

Opposition

Florida Red and Blue, which believes the amendment will strip existing domestic partnerships of their rights, is fighting the initiative.^[7] The group has promised to wage an "all-out" campaign to fight the measure and will be arranging "truth squads" to spread their message.

"There are still those out there who would like to take away personal liberties," said Stephen Gaskill, spokesperson for Florida Red and Blue. He said that his group is certain "Floridians don't want government this deeply involved in their personal lives."^[8]

Others, like Rabbi Bruce Diamond believes that it is an invasion of privacy.^[9]

Many are accusing the petition as acting as bait for the Presidential election in order to draw out conservative voters, saying that there is already enough legislation in place currently.^[10]

The ACLU has come out against the amendment, urging Florida voters to reject it. ACLU officials say they are worried the ballot's language will make it difficult for unmarried couples who share benefits, including many seniors, to continue that. ^[11]

Financing the opposition

Amendment 2 is one of three ballot measures that will appear on November ballots around the country to ban same-sex marriage. Of these, the highest profile battle surrounds California Proposition 8. According to Stephen Gaskill, a spokesperson for Florida Red and Blue, the focus on the California measure has complicated fundraising efforts for those fighting Florida Amendment 2.

Gaskill said, "Certainly if the California effort was not underway, it would be easier for Florida to raise money — that’s just a reality."^[12]

Status

The initiative was able to collect enough signatures in order to qualify for the 2008 general election.^[13] This was done by volunteer circulators gathering 92,000 signatures, roughly 7,000 a day, in order to ensure the qualification of the measure.^[14]