Florida gay marriage ban petitioners to seek state court approval

ORLANDO (FBW) – Leaders of a coalition supporting a state constitutional amendment to protect traditional marriage announced at three simultaneous news conferences Aug. 19 the effort has virtually reached an important “milestone” and called on Florida Secretary of State Glenda Hood, Attorney General Charlie Crist and the state Supreme Court to “expedite” their review of the proposed amendment.

At news conferences in Orlando, Tallahassee and Miami, spokespersons of the Florida Coalition to Protect Marriage said the Florida Division of Elections has certified 60,642 petitions as of Aug. 19, with 61,113 needed to reach the 10 percent threshold required to trigger review by the Supreme Court. In addition to the approval of the language by the state’s high court, the coalition must collect a total of 611,009 petitions to put the measure before voters next November.

“We’re calling upon all those officials necessary to process this and to do it in an expedited manner,” John Stemberger said at the Orlando event. Stemberger, chairman of the coalition, is president of the Florida Family Policy Council.

Although the attorney general has 30 days to notify the Supreme Court and the high court must conclude its required review of the amendment by April, Stemberger said both actions could be done much sooner.

I am opposed to gay marriage and civil unions with tax benefits. Our society has a long tradition of marriage between a man and a woman. While marriages are not as stable as they should be thanks to personal selfishness and no-fault divorce laws, I think that same sex marriage will only further weaken the institution of marriage.

The primary purpose for government regulating marriage is to provide a stable environment for the rearing of children. A society must reproduce to continue its existence and the stability of the environment in which children are raised is critical to the well-being of society.

I feel that conservative Christians often focus too much on homosexuality as a threat to the family rather than lenient divorce laws. Still, I fail to see any evidence that the majority of our society is ready to accept gay marriage or that the gay community is even prepared for such a responsibility. Studies have shown that monogamous and long-term gay relationships are exceedingly rare. I feel sorry for the few middle-aged Midwestern lesbians who might spend a lifetime together in monogamous maritabl bliss, but we have sometimes have to look at the overall long-term interests of society as whole.

Florida has a law banning gay marriage passed in 1977, however, there is also a right to privacy provision in the state consitution. A court could strike down the state law thus the need for a state consitutional amendment. Of course, a federal constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman would be even better.

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