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Loading ...New poll shows Fla. anti-gay amendment faltering
09.08.2008 12:50pm EDT
(Miami, Florida) A poll released Monday shows that a proposed amendment to ban same-sex marriage in Florida is likely to fail.
The Quinnipiac University poll finds that 55 percent of voters support the amendment, but that is short of the 60 percent needed to amend the constitution.The latest poll shows a continuing drop in support for the amendment as opponents of the measure make voters aware of its broad implications.
Three months ago a similar Quinnipiac poll found support was at 58 percent of voters, and a Mason-Dixon poll in August found support at 57 percent.
The newest Quinnipiac poll of 1,427 Florida voters was taken last week and has a 2.6 percent margin of error.
The proposed amendment says, “Inasmuch as marriage is the legal union of only one man and one woman, no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized.”
Florida already has a law restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples but supporters of the amendment say the law could be overturned in court.
The conservative Florida4Marriage attempted to have the proposed amendment placed on the 2006 ballot but fell short of the required number of signatures. Under Florida law the organization was allowed to continue to add names to the petition in a bid to get it on the 2008 ballot. It was certified in February to go on the November ballot.
Last year it was discovered that the state GOP was bankrolling the amendment effort.
An investigation by the St. Petersburg Times into funding for Florida4Marriage found that of the $193,000 that had been raised by the group $150,000 came from a single donor – the Florida Republican Party.
Opponents of the proposed amendment say in addition to barring gay marriage it would bar civil unions and would be used to deny partner benefits not only to same-sex couples but also to unmarried couples who live together.
That has spurred Florida Red and Blue, a non-partisan organization, to enter the fray on behalf of unmarried opposite-sex couples.
Last year in just 60 days, the group amassed more than $1 million to battle the proposed amendment.
Calling Anita Bryant. Is she still alive? She needs to take a big swig of orange juice and help out her hate-peddling Repub buddies down there. Lord knows, you’ve got to stop homosexuality now. If it was true in the 70’s it’s truer now, yes?
If Obama wins, the hate amendment fails.
I lived in Florida for 35 years, I left one year ago. I haven’t seen much as to how the house seat elections are going, but those would be telling factors as well. I left Florida because the voters over and over elected republicans which have screwed the state up. If the voters this time have had it with these same old republicans, the amendment will fail. Feeney and Keller need to be thrown out, and that would be great for the state of Florida.
I was married in Canada…and I’m still waiting for the laws of this country to catch up. I’m forced to file taxes as “single” (which is kind of humiliating), pay taxes, but still my wife wouldn’t get the benefit of my social security, etc..that I pay into dearly.
Like Tiger, I hope the Ammendment crashes and burns.
The older generation and the psycho obsessed religious groups need to stop acting like god themselves. I am 30 something years old, and I think it is time for everyone in the United States to be equal. Why should some people have rights and others don’t have the same equalities that everyone else has in the United States? I was born in Florida, and have lived here all of my life. It’s about time I’m considered an equal part of the US. I have to pay taxes,and medical insurance, and gas. I want my equal rights too.
In response to Tiger Tzu, I have been married for over 20 years. My wife and I have four wonderful, productive children. Myself and my family agree 100% with the comment that this mean spirited amendment is not good for Floridians, nor our economy. It needs to be defeated
As a native-born Floridian, I would not be happier if this proposed amendment has a spectacular crash and burn. History will judge those who back such amendments here and other places as narrowminded bigots who were a detrement to humanity and civil rights and I sincerely hope that Florida will not be an example of what was wrong with America.