Source: Orlando Sentinel
A national gay-rights group came to Orlando on Tuesday to launch a statewide effort against a proposed ban on same-sex marriage.
The Human Rights Campaign held the first of a series of training sessions for gay-rights volunteers at a Thornton Park eatery, despite word from the state that a proposed constitutional amendment backed by Orlando's Florida4Marriage was more than 20,000 signatures short of making the November ballot.
"The last thing we should do in this moment is change our campaign in any way," said Joe Solmonese, president of the Washington-based group, which bills itself as the nation's largest gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender civil-rights organization.
About 50 people attended the session which trained gay-rights volunteers to talk to voters at polling places during the Jan. 29 primaries.
Florida Red and Blue, a group formed to campaign against the amendment, also organized the event.
Florida4Marriage initially announced it had enough signatures to get on the ballot, but Division of Election authorities said Monday that 27,000 signatures from Miami-DadeCounty had been reported to the state twice.
The measure has 589,020 confirmed signatures statewide.
The state requires petition groups to collect 611,000 signatures from registered voters, including totals amounting to 8 percent of the votes cast in 2004 in 13 of the state's 25 congressional districts.
John Stemberger, state president of Florida4Marriage, said his group has stepped up its efforts, and the battle isn't over.
"We're concentrating on getting the job done," Stemberger said.
His group has until Feb. 1 to collect the remaining signatures.
Full article: Group organizes in Orlando against proposed ban on same-sex marriage -- OrlandoSentinel.com