By Stephen Gaskill
Florida's GLBT voters will face a divisive and unnecessary attack on their
lives at the ballot box this November: Amendment 2, the Florida Marriage
Protection Amendment. In just 37 words, this vaguely-written amendment
to the Florida Constitution could take away rights, benefits and
protections from couples in committed relationships. And that's not just
election-year hyperbole.
Amendment 2 is also called the "gay marriage ban." But the reality is
that same-sex marriage is already illegal in Florida under at least four
separate laws dating back a decade. So whether or not Amendment 2 is
approved by the voters, same-sex marriage will remain illegal in the
Sunshine State. But while Florida's GLBT community is in the crosshairs in
this campaign, the state's unmarried heterosexual couples have just as
much to lose.
That's because the amendment language goes much further than defining marriage as only
between "one man and one woman," as many of these types of amendments claim (California's, for
instance). The Florida amendment reads: "Inasmuch as 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."
The last phrase is the problem -- "no other union that is treated as marriage or the substantial
equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized." What exactly does that mean?
Does that mean civil unions? Domestic partnerships? Other legal arrangements between
unmarried couples? No one knows. The amendment's supporters claim not to know. Even the
amendment's authors claim not to know.
With so many unknowns, why would Florida voters approve Amendment 2?
Raising those doubts and pointing out the potential consequences of Amendment 2 is the job of
Florida Red and Blue, the bipartisan statewide organization running the Say No 2 campaign. Based
in Miami, Florida Red and Blue has raised more than $2.5 million in cash and in-kind contributions for
Say No 2. (That amount will increase when the latest quarterly figures are released in mid-July.)
Since last summer, Florida Red and Blue has been educating Floridians that they could lose shared
health care benefits, pension benefits, and even hospital visitation rights if Amendment 2 passes.
The Say No 2 campaign has gained traction, with more than 200 organizations and political leaders
signing on. Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, Florida CFO Alex Sink,
the Florida AFL-CIO, the Florida Professional Firefighters, and the League of Women Voters are just a
few of the powerful and persuasive allies Say No 2 has. (You can read the whole list at www.SayNo2.
com.)
Only one state has ever defeated a "marriage protection" amendment – Arizona in 2006. That
campaign is the model for Say No 2: A heavy emphasis on research…strong bipartisan support in a
broad-based coalition…and a media campaign that focuses on the consequences on those
impacted by the amendment, especially senior couples who can't or don't want to marry.
While supporters of Amendment 2 claim that Red and Blue's approach is disingenuous – they say
that there's no precedent for taking away benefits and that Red and Blue is just scaring seniors for
an electoral victory – the reality is that Michigan recently played out Florida's worst case scenario.
Michigan voters passed a marriage amendment with language similar to Florida's in 2004. This
spring, the Michigan Supreme Court, in a widely-publicized interpretation of the amendment, ruled
that domestic partnerships for unmarried couples are, in the amendment's language, a "similar
union" to marriage, and therefore sharing benefits is invalid under the voter-passed constitutional
amendment. The result: people are having their health care benefits taken away, just as opponents
of the amendment claimed.
We cannot repeat that scenario here.
The Say No 2 campaign is working throughout our community to educate voters about this
dangerous amendment. California is grabbing the headlines, but Florida is the largest swing state in
the country. If Red and Blue is successful in defeating Amendment 2, it could finally be the death
knell for these harmful, hateful and wasteful constitutional amendment drives.
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Stephen Gaskill is a Fort Lauderdale-based Democratic political campaign consultant.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stephen Gaskill is a senior communications strategist and political consultant with more than 20
years of experience designing and implementing media outreach programs for political candidates,
government agencies, advocacy groups, major corporations, trade associations and ad hoc
coalitions. Based in South Florida after a long career in Washington DC, Stephen is an independent
consultant with a variety of client interests, and has served as national spokesperson on a wide
range of issues and causes. He is a veteran of Democratic politics, and held senior positions in the
last four presidential campaigns.
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