Voters won't have to decide until November, but the debate about banning gay marriage is heating up now – or perhaps just remaining on the low boil it's already reached.
The folks who gathered the required 611,009 signatures to put the proposed amendment on the ballot later this year will sponsor a debate at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 25 at the Florida A&M University Law School inOrlando.
Chief advocate for the same-sex marriage amendment – John Stemberger, president of the Florida Family Policy Council – will join Alliance Defense Fund attorney Jeff Ventrella to make the case for the idea of requiring marriage be between a man and a woman.
On the other side will be ACLU lawyer Glen Katon and Eric Smaw, a philosophy professor at Rollins College.
Conservative religious activists worked the sidewalks for four years to get the proposal before voters. Though Florida statute already bars same-sex marriage, advocates say a constitutional amendment is needed to head off any judicial action or future consideration by lawmakers.
Those opposed, which include gay-rights groups and seniors advocates, say the amendment represents prejudice against homosexuals and threatens more than gay people's rights. For instance, men and women who are not married but are able to share employment benefits as long-term companions, they argue, could have their perks threatened by the amendment.
Similar amendments passed in 11 states in 2004, when the last presidential election prompted their placement before voters. The Feb. 25 debate is sure to be lively and … just the beginning.
One opposition group, Florida Red & Blue, makes its online case at http://www.floridaredandblue.com.
Stemberger's Florida Family Policy Council has its own Web site that was home to the initiative drive. The amendment's proponents put forward their arguments at http://www.florida4marriage.org.