Florida
Florida is home to over 50,000 same-sex couples. Anti-family organizations are currently threatening to attempt to write discrimination into the state constitution. State advocacy groups are working now to build strong coalitions and protect families from discrimination.
WHERE YOU CAN GO TO GET INVOLVED OR LEARN MORE:
Equality Florida
Equality Florida is a statewide education and advocacy organization
dedicated to eliminating discrimination based on sexual orientation,
race, gender and class.
Florida Red & Blue
Florida Red and Blue is the non-partisan, independent campaign dedicated to defeating the so-called "marriage protection" amendment. This intrusive amendment to the Florida Constitution will take away long established rights for ALL non-married Floridians.
Fairness for All Families
Fairness for All Families is the campaign of fair-minded Floridians
who say NO to the anti-marriage amendment proposed in Florida.
ACLU Florida
The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida is freedom's watchdog,
working daily in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend
individual rights and personal freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution
and the Bill of Rights.
UNITY COALITION/COALICION UNIDA
Florida's leading Latino/Hispanic gay civil-rights nonprofit
initiative, offering leadership on issues that concern Latino/Hispanic
LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) and other minority groups.
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LEGISLATIVE STATUS IN FLORIDA:
Your Community—Florida
Human Rights Campaign (HRC)
HRC presents resources, news, and the current marriage and
relationship recognition laws in each state.
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PUBLICATIONS:
Florida Census Snapshot
December 2007
Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, this report provides demographic and economic information about same-sex couples and same-sex couples raising children in Florida.
Geographic Trends Among Same-Sex Couples in the U.S. Census and the
American Community Survey
Williams Institute
November 2007
Gary Gates at the Williams Institute released groundbreaking research
on the geographic trends among same-sex couples. The report finds the
biggest increases in Southern and Mountain states and states barring
legal acceptance of same-sex couples had larger percentage increases
in same-sex couples from 2000 to 2006.
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NEWS:
OPINION: Amendment Two Erodes Rights, Protects No One
George Griffin, president of the Volusia, FL chapter of the ACLU, writes about the anti-marriage amendment: “This is a mean-spirited amendment that will adversely affect gay, straight and retired couples.”
Gay couples turn out for "Fair Adoption Lobby Day"
Supporters of a bill that would make it easier for gay couples to adopt children gathered in the Capitol Wednesday as part of "Fair Adoption Lobby Day."
Florida to vote on anti-marriage amendment
Florida residents will vote in November on an anti-marriage constitutional amendment, state officials announced late Friday. The signature-petition drive launched three years ago by social-conservative groups managed to beat Friday's deadline to make the presidential-election ballot, the state Division of Elections said…Jon Kislak, chairman of the Florida Red and Blue group planning to fight the amendment, said he was "confident that voters will reject this amendment once they learn it can take away existing rights and benefits from millions of Floridians."
Anti-marriage amendment breeds bias
News-Press editorial staff voices opposition to the Florida marriage amendment and says it is a "false belief" that banning gay couples from marriage "somehow strengthens traditional marriage."
Equality Florida member challenges bigotry during far-right summit
Box Turtle Bulletin
September 24, 2007
Cathy James — mother of a seven-year-old, founder of Securing Our
Children's Rights (SOCR) and longtime member of Equality Florida — not
only attended the Family Impact Summit, but she also spoke out to
challenge the bigotry being espoused. In so doing, she left a group of
anti-gay panelists "speechless."
Tide turning on anti-gay measures?
EDGE Miami
July 9, 2007
Anti-gay constitutional amendment initiatives may no longer be the
sure-fire "slam-dunk" they were even a couple of years ago, throwing a
measure of doubt onto a Florida effort to ban gay and lesbian couples'
marriages in 2008.
WA woman shares tale of denial at bedside of her dying partner
The Olympian
June 17, 2007
Four months ago, Lacey resident Janice Langbehn, her partner Lisa Pond
and their children Katie, David and Danielle, ages 10 to 13, were set
for a relaxing cruise from Miami to the Bahamas. But Pond, Langbehn's
partner for nearly 18 years, was stricken in Miami with a brain
aneurysm and died. After Pond was taken to the emergency room,
Langbehn said she was informed by a social worker that they were in an
"anti-gay state" and that they needed legal paperwork before Langbehn
could see Pond. The family was not allowed to be with her in the
emergency room, and Langbehn's authority to make decisions for Pond
was not recognized.
A red-letter day
The Ocala Star-Banner
February 15, 2007
For Valentine's Day, and in observance of the 10th annual Freedom to
Marry Week, the Metropolitan Community Church of Ocala recognized
seven couples who are in long-term, committed relationships, but
cannot be legally married.
Fighting for the freedom to marry moves the middle
365Gay.com
October 31, 2006
The Republican says he is against marriage equality because "marriage
is a 'sacred' relationship — like I had, before I got divorced." The
Democrat believes that "if a couple decides to make a lifetime
commitment to one another then they should be able to have the same
rights and responsibilities." The independent candidate asserts, "Gay
marriage, I don't think the country is ready for that right now. So I
think it's good to take it one step at a time." All three candidates
for governor favor civil union for same-sex couples. The state:
Florida. The marriage discussion is moving the middle.
Marriage foe defeated in Florida Republican gubernatorial primary
The Advocate
September 6, 2006
State CFO Tom Gallagher was soundly defeated in his race for the
Republican gubernatorial nomination after positioning himself almost
exactly the same as President Bush. Gallagher's abandonment of his
previously more moderate stances on social issues for far-right
positions — including opposing the freedom to marry and equal
adoption rights for lesbian and gay couples — was seen as
instrumental to his loss.
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MULTIMEDIA:
Civil Rights Icon Joins Fairness for All Families Campaign to Defeat Harmful Amendment
(St. Petersburg) Julian Bond, an icon in the civil rights movement for the nearly 50 years and longtime national Chairman of the NAACP, has stepped into a leadership role with the Fairness for All Families Campaign, the statewide coalition effort to defeat the deceptively named "Florida Marriage Protection" Amendment.
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Williams Institute
December 2007
Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, this report provides demographic and economic information about same-sex couples and same-sex couples raising children in Florida.
Bond who describes himself as a full-time Florida property owner and part-time Florida resident urged voters to reject the mean-spirited measure by voting NO in November.
