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Talking Points

 

Our families are routinely denied the basic rights many people take for granted – visiting your partner in the hospital, providing health insurance for your spouse. We know our families need and deserve full legal recognition. Equality Florida is working to achieve full marriage equality for our families, and we champion domestic partnership laws, benefits, and registries.

GOAL

Equality Florida seeks to secure legal recognition for LGBT families through BOTH full access to the protections of marriage and the benefits of Domestic Partnership for those families where marriage is not an option.

BACKGROUND

The fight for legal recognition of our families has many fronts, including:

  • Equal access to marriage in Florida,
  • Recognition of same-sex marriages from other states and countries  (repeal Florida’s Defense of Marriage Act),
  • Fighting ballot initiatives limiting marriage through the constitution
  • Proactively pursuing a broadly inclusive Domestic Partnership bill
  • Local Domestic Partnership efforts
  • Equal Benefits Ordinances (for government contractors)

In an effort to enshrine discrimination into the state constitution, a few far-right extremist groups have launch a drive to amend the Florida Constitution to permanently prevent legal recognition or protection for same-sex couples.

If passed, this amendment would legally deprive thousands of Floridians of any chance to obtain important basic civil rights, including, but not limited to:  Social Security and pension benefits, family medical leave, financial obligations and responsibilities to each other and their children, inheritance rights, hospital visitation and medical decision making authority, and scores of tax and other benefits.

The impact of the far-right’s of attack is very real. Families will be harmed. Couples who love each other and take care of each other need legal protections. It is morally wrong for the state to get in the way of people taking care of each other, including same-sex partners.

 This effort by the Southern Baptists and Christian Coalition is an attempt to codify their religious beliefs as constitutional law in Florida.  It is a clear violation of the separation of church and state, one of the primary principles on which this country was founded. 

Florida’s Constitution guarantees equal protection and dignity under the law for all its citizens. This amendment would carve out an exception to specifically mandate government discrimination against a group of people.

Beyond the full legal recognition of marriage for same-sex couples, Equality Florida seeks to secure the benefits and protections of Domestic Partnership for those blended families where marriage is not an option.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

  1. Have a conversation with your friends and family, tell them how this affects you and ask them not to sign the petition.
  2. Host a House Party. The far-right is extremely well funded and we need to match them dollar-for-dollar. See how easy it is to host a fundraiser with your friends and family.
  3. Join Equality Florida. Our work is not possible without the financial support of people like you who care about the lives of Florida’s LGBT citizens.

 

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Equality Florida, 3150 5th Ave North, Suite 325, St. Petersburg, FL 33713 | Phone: 813-870-EQFL(3735), Fax: 727-490-0965

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