|
In
1997,
the
Florida
legislature
enacted
Florida
Statute
741.212,
which
banned
marriages
between
persons
of
the
same
sex.
Section
3
of
that
law
even
reads
that
for
the
purposes
of
interpreting
the
statute,
‘marriage’
would
mean
only
a
legal
union
between
one
man
and
one
woman
as
husband
and
wife.
With
that
law
in
effect,
a
constitutional
amendment
banning
gay
marriage
was
clearly
redundant
and
unnecessary.
So
why
did
they
do
it?
Because
your
enemies
do
not
just
want
you
down
and
out.
They
want
to
stomp
on
your
throat.
On
its
face,
the
Protection
of
Marriage
Amendment
simply
prohibits
same-sex
marriages.
The
breadth
of
this
amendment
could
be
much
worrisome
though.
You
see,
the
people
who
brought
you
this
amendment
falsely
advertised
that
it
would
only
ratify
existing
law.
Their
past
suggests
that
is
not
all
they
had
in
mind.
Here
is
the
story
behind
the
story.
The
strongest
backers
of
the
amendment
included
anti
gay
groups
like
the
‘Liberty
Counsel.’
The
liberties
they
support
are
their
own,
not
yours.
These
are
the
groups
and
organizations
that
supported
state
statutes
making
consensual
gay
sex
criminal.
They
are
the
people
who
oppose
passage
of
domestic
partnership
ordinances,
and
fought
against
health
and
employee
benefits
for
same
sex
partners
and
their
children.
They
are
the
same
vampires
who
are
still
fighting
in
Florida
against
allowing
qualified
gay
people
from
adopting.
Okay,
maybe
I
am
being
unfair
to
vampires.
What
does
this
mean,
then?
It
means
‘they’
are
not
done;
they
are
just
beginning.
They
will
use
this
amendment
as
a
legal
sword
to
go
into
court
and
challenge
the
progress
we
have
made.
They
are
coming
to
a
neighborhood
near
you
and
bringing
a
bank
of
lawyers.
The
‘Liberty
Counsel’
and
its
friends
will
now
sue
Broward
County
and
argue
that
the
new
amendment
has
rendered
the
county’s
domestic
partnership
benefits
ordinance
illegal.
They
will
challenge
the
city
of
Wilton
Manors
for
extending
employment
benefits
for
gay
couples.
They
will
argue
that
their
tax
dollars
cannot
be
used
to
provide
same
sex
benefits
in
Miami
Beach.
In
those
states
and
places
where
these
issues
have
already
been
voted
on
and
approved,
like
Michigan
and
Ohio,
this
is
what
‘they’
have
done.
They
are
never
satisfied
with
just
getting
an
amendment
passed.
They
then
want
to
use
that
law
as
a
vehicle
to
‘stomp
on
your
throat.’
For
example,
in
Ann
Arbor,
conservative
groups
have
already
sued
the
school
board
demanding
that
it
repeal
a
same-sex
benefits
provision
for
its
teachers.
A
state
senator
in
Ohio
has
already
introduced
legislation
demanding
that
state
universities
cease
at
once
from
providing
its
gay
employees
same
sex
benefits.
The
goal
of
your
enemies
who
backed
this
amendment
was
to
be
able
to
go
to
court
and
argue
that
governments
which
continue
to
provide
benefits
packages
for
same
sex
partners
are
treating
those
unions
as
the
equivalent
of
marriages.
Therefore,
they
initiate
legal
actions
demanding
the
programs
cease
because
they
now
violate
the
new
constitutional
amendment.
The
passing
of
this
amendment
in
Florida
means
that
civil
rights
lawyers
as
well
as
city
and
county
attorneys
are
going
to
have
to
defend
the
human
rights
ordinances
which
have
already
been
passed.
There
is
a
twist
there
for
us
though.
The
very
cities
we
had
to
cajole
for
decades
to
pass
human
rights
ordinances
will
now
have
to
hire
lawyers
to
defend
the
constitutionality
of
them.
This
time,
they
will
be
on
our
side.
Gays
and
lesbians
have
won
many
civil
rights
over
the
past
decade.
Those
laws
will
now
be
tested
by
the
passage
of
this
repressive
constitutional
amendment.
Fortunately,
the
gay
and
lesbian
community
is
protected
by
a
legal
network
of
competent
lawyers,
from
the
ACLU
to
Lambda
Legal.
Ultimately,
we
will
prevail,
despite
the
marriage
‘protection’
amendment.
But
we
are
going
to
have
to
fight
again.
That
should
come
as
no
surprise
to
anyone.
Liberty
is
an
ongoing
struggle.
As
we
go
forward,
the
minimal
differences
between
competing
organizations
fighting
for
the
same
civil
rights
will
be
inconsequential.
There
is
no
blame
game
anymore.
Whether
you
worked
for
Fairness
for
Families
or
the
Red
and
Blue
team,
it
just
doesn’t
matter.
We
are
all
in
this
together.
Abraham
Lincoln
emancipated
slaves
in
the
nineteenth
century.
One
hundred
years
later,
in
the
twentieth
century,
Lyndon
Baines
Johnson
had
to
sign
a
Civil
Rights
Act
to
insure
the
freedoms
of
Negro
...
 |
 |
| The
following comments were posted by our readers and were
not edited by floridablade.com. We ask that you
treat others with respect; any post deemed offensive will
be removed. |
|
|
