|
(Miami, Florida) The Florida Republican Party is
the driving force behind an organization claiming to be a grassroots initiative
to gather signatures to amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage
according to a published report.
An investigation by the St. Petersburg Times into
funding for the Florida4Marriage has found that of the $193,000 that has been
raised by the group $150,000 came from a single donor - the Florida Republican
Party.
The paper says that the donation was made in a
single check on Nov. 25.
"It certainly was helpful,"
Florida4Marriage chair John Stemberger tells the Times
Stemberger said that the donation was
unsolicited. "I'm not at liberty to discuss the details, but they came to
us and gave us the money," he told the paper.
Yet Gov. Jeb Bush, the titular head of the party,
publicly said in 2004 that he is opposed to an amendment. (story)
Since then he has attempted to avoid talking
about the amendment issue describing it only as well-meaning but unnecessary
because state law already bars same-sex marriage.
A spokesperson for the Governor said Bush was not
aware of the donation.
Florida Republican Party Executive Director Andy
Palmer told the Times that it made the donation because the party believed that
similar ballot measures helped to increase the Republican vote in battleground
states during the 2004 elections.
The payment was attacked by LGBT Democrats.
"Voters should be weary of these stealth
tactics used by the Republican Party both nationally and here in Florida,"
said Michael Albetta, President of the Florida GLBT Democratic Caucus, an
official caucus of the Florida Democratic Party.
"Republicans fear a Democratic trend in this
state, and they are attempting to force measures like these as a substitute for
productive policies."
Despite the huge injection of cash it appears
Florida4Marriage may not get the number of signatures needed to put a proposed
amendment on the ballot.
Organizers say they've collected about 150,000 of
the approximately 600,000 signatures needed for a vote on the amendment in
November. (story)
Supporters are gearing up for a final push to
collect the remaining signatures in less than two weeks.
"The corruption of the Republican Party is
failing to convince voters to support their candidates, so they are turning to
controversial activist groups to push unnecessary initiatives in an attempt to
scare individuals in the electoral fringe into voting," said Eric Stern, National
Stonewall Democrats Executive Director, from Washington.
©365Gay.com 2006
|
Entertainment
