Fla. Anti-gay marriage Amendment Meets Signature Goal

TALLAHSSEE, Fla. – On Dec. 13 supporters of a proposed amendment to ban same-sex marriage in the Sunshine State said they have collected enough signatures to put the proposal on the 2008 ballot.
The coalition Florida4Marriage.org needed 611,009 valid signatures from registered voters to get the amendment on the ballot.

The amendment was drafted by Matthew Staver, founder and chairman of the Liberty Counsel, an organization dedicated to “advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of human life and the traditional family,” and his wife, Anita.
Several organizations, including gay rights groups, have decried the proposal, and have said that it could be used to deny domestic partner benefits. Although Florida law already defines marriage as the union between a man and a woman, the proposed amendment’s language also seeks to ban any  “other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof.”
"It's government saying this is the only sanctioned relationship that you can have," Stephen Gaskill, spokesman for Florida Red and Blue – a bi-partisan group that opposes the amendment – told the Associated Press. "It's really overstepping the role of government."
But John Stemberger, an Orlando lawyer and leader of Florida4Marriage.org, Stemberger said that the proposed amendment would protect rather than harm domestic partnership rights.
He also decried gay groups for attempting to use domestic partnership rights to steer the debate away from gay marriage.
“If they want to bring on a debate, a robust debate about homosexual marriage, game on,” he said. “But we're not going to allow them to lie to the people of the state of Florida about what this marriage amendment is about.”
Politicians on both sides of the aisle have speculated that the proposed amendment may draw more conservative voters to the polls in 2008 – a possibility that could make the swing state’s electoral votes go to a Republican presidential candidate. Florida’s Republican governor Charlie Crist, meanwhile, has called for his party to stop funding the amendment’s campaign, and has said that people should “live and let live” when it comes to gay marriage.
According to Florida Red and Blue’s Web site, The Florida Republican Party was the largest contributor to the push for signatures, donating $300,000 in all.  
To be added to the state’s constitution, 60 percent of voters will need to approve the proposal in 2008.
If voters pass the amendment, Florida will become the 27th state to amend its constitution to prohibit gay marriage.