Sunday, Oct. 12, 2008

State ban on gay marriage? You decide

Proposed amendment on next month's ballot causing controversy

For better or for worse. For richer or poorer. For man and . . . husband?

Florida's proposed constitutional Amendment 2 is probably the most talked-about initiative you'll find on a busy ballot this fall. Five other amendments ask voters to weigh in on ineligible aliens' property rights, tax breaks and conserving sensitive lands, but none is as controversial as the proposed ban on gay marriage.

Amendment 2 asks voters to make Florida's definition of marriage - strictly the legal union of man and woman - a state Constitutional provision that couldn't be overturned by courts. Supporters say it would firm up Florida's stance against gay marriage and strengthen state values.

"I have seen the effect on children who come from a same-sex domestic homes.

They're very ashamed to let people know they have two mommies or daddies," said Carol Kay Monaco, a retired Oneco Elementary School teacher who is leading the Vote Yes on Two charge in Manatee. Others supporting Amendment 2 include the Florida Catholic Conference, the Florida Christian Coalition and the Liberty Counsel.

But opponents see the measure as a tactic to turn out conservative voters, and warn that it could have serious consequences not just for gay couples, but for heterosexual couples who live together without being married. Among the scores of groups against Amendment 2 are the Sarasota-Manatee chapter of the National Organization of Women, the Florida AFL-CIO and Florida Red and Blue, a state group created to defeat the amendment.

"Amendment 2 would add vague and undefined language to the Constitution," said Derek Newton, campaign manager of Florida Red and Blue. "Amendment 2 will open up a freight train-sized loophole in the Constitution which will allow for an avalanche of lawsuits against public employers such as employers, school districts and universities."

Will all unmarried couples lose benefits?

A similar 2004 amendment in Michigan led to a state Supreme Court ruling that universities and cities could not extend benefits to domestic partners. Amendment 2 opponents also worry that the measure could prevent straight or gay partners from visiting a hurt or sick loved one in the hospital.

Florida law already prohibits same-sex marriage, but a constitutional amendment stating the same would prevent any legal challenges in the future.

The truth is somewhat blurred in the wording of the amendment. It states that "no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized."

House Republican documents state the amendment would not affect civil unions or other contractual relationships between consenting adults. State Rep. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, who is an attorney, agrees. He says unmarried partners already have to take measures to designate a surrogate on health care and estate matters. Amendment 2, he says, won't change that.

"It's a stretch to interpret this amendment as negating heterosexual rights," Galvano said. "If you want to own property with another person, you have to make certain steps whether you're homosexual or heterosexual. There are things you have to do overtly, but you have to do them whether or not this amendment passes or fails."

But the Legislature's Office of Economic and Demographic Research determined that ending marriage-equivalent partnerships "could place registrants at risk of losing specified rights and benefits, such as those related to health insurance," the Miami Herald reported.

Leaning toward 'yes'

Recent polls show most Floridians share Monaco's support for Amendment 2.

An early October Mason-Dixon poll found that 55 percent of likely voters - five points short of the required 60 percent for passage - will vote for Amendment 2, while 34 percent will vote no. The 11 percent of undecided voters are likely to lean toward voting yes, according to Brad Coker, managing director for Mason-Dixon Polling & Research.

"Typically, when you're dealing with gay rights-type issues, the undecided vote almost always goes into the anti-gay column," Coker said. "There's been a pretty clear pattern of it in other places. Based on what I've seen, getting to 60 is not a stretch."

Locally, activists on both sides of Amendment 2 are trying to get word out through phone banks, yard signs and at pulpits during Sunday homilies and sermons. Many Florida churches have taken a "vote yes" stance on Amendment 2, but a handful of liberal congregations such as the Manatee Unitarian Universalist Fellowship warn against it.

"There may be differences of opinion, but we shouldn't take a chance" on gay or straight couples losing rights, said fellowship president Willard Ruliffson.