President of the Univ of FL and his wife oppose Amendment 2
Celebrate our diversity, vote down Amendment 2
We are writing to voice our opposition to Constitutional Amendment 2, the "Florida Marriage Protection Amendment."
We believe same sex couples should have the same rights as heterosexual couples to express their love and faithfulness in a lifelong commitment to marriage. Amending Florida's Constitution with this prohibition signals an intolerance in our state, its institutions and its citizens.
The Florida we know and have come to love celebrates its diversity and broad-mindedness. Moreover, the responsibility of deciding who should marry rests with couples, churches and faiths; not the state or federal government.
We feel it would be a mistake to incorporate this prohibition into the Florida Constitution, a document with a hallowed tradition of expanding, rather than restricting, our rights and freedoms.
We urge our fellow Floridians to vote "no" on Amendment 2 and uphold our state's values of equality, fairness and tolerance.
Bernie and Chris Machen,
