ACLU, gay rights groups say Florida Marriage Protection Amendment is deceptive
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Florida Sun-Sentinel.
St. Petersburg Times
Jacksonville Times-Union
The Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Several gay couples from around the state asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to reject a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage on the grounds that the wording of the ballot question is unclear and involves more than one subject.
The proposed amendment is being pushed by a group called Florida4Marriage.org.
The summary of the amendment proposed for the ballot would read: "This amendment protects marriage as the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife and provides that no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized."
The gay couples, with the backing of the American Civil Liberties Union and other civil rights groups, argue that the language isn't clear as to what the effects of the amendment will be and therefore is misleading.
The couples argue that it's not clear what types of other currently legal unions and civil rights might be barred if the amendment passes. For example, they say it's not clear whether it would ban domestic partnerships that currently give people certain rights, like the right to visit a partner in the hospital or make medical decisions for the other.
The couples also argue the proposal violates a ban on constitutional amendments involving more than one subject, saying it combines a ban on same-sex marriage with a ban on other forms of protection for gay couples.
The chairman of Florida4Marriage.org, John Stemberger, said the measure doesn't ban the granting of legal rights short of marriage to gay couples. He said it would clearly only ban other legal unions as a substitute to marriage.
"It does not prohibit domestic partner registries, it does not prohibit the private or public sector from granting benefits to same sex couples," Stemberger said, arguing that the measure only prohibits arrangements that "mimic marriage exactly."
Florida4Marriage.org needs 611,000 signatures to get on the November 2006 ballot. So far, it has collected 82,407, Stemberger said.
Florida Sun-Sentinel.
St. Petersburg Times
Jacksonville Times-Union
The Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Several gay couples from around the state asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to reject a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage on the grounds that the wording of the ballot question is unclear and involves more than one subject.
The proposed amendment is being pushed by a group called Florida4Marriage.org.
The summary of the amendment proposed for the ballot would read: "This amendment protects marriage as the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife and provides that no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized."
The gay couples, with the backing of the American Civil Liberties Union and other civil rights groups, argue that the language isn't clear as to what the effects of the amendment will be and therefore is misleading.
The couples argue that it's not clear what types of other currently legal unions and civil rights might be barred if the amendment passes. For example, they say it's not clear whether it would ban domestic partnerships that currently give people certain rights, like the right to visit a partner in the hospital or make medical decisions for the other.
The couples also argue the proposal violates a ban on constitutional amendments involving more than one subject, saying it combines a ban on same-sex marriage with a ban on other forms of protection for gay couples.
The chairman of Florida4Marriage.org, John Stemberger, said the measure doesn't ban the granting of legal rights short of marriage to gay couples. He said it would clearly only ban other legal unions as a substitute to marriage.
"It does not prohibit domestic partner registries, it does not prohibit the private or public sector from granting benefits to same sex couples," Stemberger said, arguing that the measure only prohibits arrangements that "mimic marriage exactly."
Florida4Marriage.org needs 611,000 signatures to get on the November 2006 ballot. So far, it has collected 82,407, Stemberger said.
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