Source: St. Petersburg Times, Tallahassee Democrat
Tallahassee, Fla. -- A proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay and lesbian marriage was compared Wednesday with amendments prohibiting pregnant pigs and creating high-speed rail.
Patricia Ireland, former president of the National Organization for Women, told Tallahassee's Capital Tiger Bay Club that the amendment is yet another example of something that should not be in the Florida Constitution.
"There are more important things that belong in our Constitution," Ireland said, noting that passage of the amendment would result in dozens of lawsuits against governmental agencies that now provide benefits for unmarried Floridians.
Orlando lawyer John Stemberger said the amendment is needed to protect marriage from the possibility of future court decisions that might recognize gay marriages.
The amendment would put existing law into the state Constitution and guard against polygamy and group marriage, Stemberger insisted.
He claimed that all "aberrant forms of marriage" might become legal unless Florida voters adopt his proposal at the polls next November.
Ireland argued that the state already has laws recognizing only heterosexual unions -- and warned that the pending change would jeopardize rights of tens of thousands of unmarried couples, gay and straight.
Ireland said that more than 269,000 unmarried Floridians who live together and benefit from legal benefits and rights. She estimated that only 41,000 of them are actually gay and lesbian couples.
Stemberger, president of the Florida Family Policy Council, and Ireland, a Miami attorney representing anti-amendment group Florida Red and Blue, debated Amendment 2 at a luncheon of the Capital Tiger Bay Club. Stemberger's Florida4Marriage.org group succeeded Feb. 1 in getting more than 600,000 voter signatures to qualify the gay-marriage ban for a statewide referendum.
After the hour-long debate, a straw poll taken by those attending the lunch saw Tiger Bay members voting 4-1 against the proposed amendment, which is on the November ballot.
Stemberger insisted that "logic, biology, tradition and common sense" dictate that marriage is not for homosexuals.
"Children need a mom and a dad," Stemberger insisted. "The research is clear. Where ever a mother and father are present, social maladies are lower and children are happier and more successful."
He further claimed that law-review articles and statements by proponents of polygamy and group marriage argue there is no legal reason to limit marriage to one man and one woman.
"These are not crazies," he said. "These folks are where homosexual activists were 25 years ago. The problem is, when you unlock that door, there's really no end to the argument of where we're going to define marriage."
He claimed that gay marriage is "not the end game." He said, "There are many people who want to bring their aberrant forms of marriage to the table, and once you open the door, there's really no end to it."
Ireland noted that Stemberger's amendment bans any "other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof." Ireland said no one knows what "substantial equivalent" means.
"We do know that if Amendment 2 passes, someone is going to be down the next day at the courthouse, filing a lawsuit saying domestic-partner benefits are treating people who receive them as if they were married, in terms of sharing their health care, or retirement benefits or making medical decisions," she said.
Full article: Proposed ban on gay marriage sparks debate | Tallahassee Democrat
Former NOW president slams proposed gay marriage ban | St. Petersburg Times