Calling Volunteers: Come Help Us Defeat the Florida Marriage Amendment!

by Tony Sandonato

We need your help to work the polls on January 29th – the date of Florida’s Presidential Primary.

As a Florida Red and Blue coalition partner, HRC will be staffing multiple polling locations throughout Florida to raise awareness and gather volunteers to fight this November’s mean-spirited ballot initiative.

We know that primary voters are politically savvy and are the most likely voters to show up in November, so touching these people now is crucial. With your help on January 29th we can raise visibility, identify likely supporters, and sign up additional volunteers to help us defeat this damaging amendment proposal.

So what is the Florida Marriage Amendment? During the 2008 November general election Florida voters will be asked to vote on an amendment to Florida’s Constitution which would not only ban gay marriage forever but which could also take away the ability to visit loved ones in the hospital, eliminate insurance benefits for non-married couples, and require government to take an even larger role in our lives.

The organization driving this divisive effort is Florida4Marriage.org. Specifically, the proposed amendment reads:

"Inasmuch as marriage is the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife, no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized."

Fortunately, two statewide groups are working in concert to defeat this proposed amendment -- Florida Red and Blue and Fairness for All Families. Both consist of coalitions of fair-minded organizations who have banded together to prevent this discriminatory amendment from passing.

Several Florida newspapers have already spoken out against the amendment including The Ocala Star Banner, the Tampa Tribune, the Norwest Florida News, the Daytona News-Journal and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

What can YOU do? Contact us today and join HRC South Florida and Florida Red and Blue on January 29th to spread the word and collect other volunteers who will stand with us through the November elections.

Whether you live in Palm Beach, Broward or Miami-Dade Counties please contact us today. You will be invited to an informative training session which will prepare you for this fight.

We need your help -- our rights as Floridians are at stake.

HRC Volunteer!